Carry on to Carrion!

Today we made our way from Fromista to Carrion de Los Condes, a fairly flat walk of only 20km (12.5 mi). But it was a sleep-deprived night and a windy day, so it was another tough one.

The festival in Fromista went on into the wee hours of the morning. Two live bands played steadily from 9:30pm to 2:30am. The bandstand with stacked towers of speakers on either side was set up just beyond our hotel. Even ear plugs and Tylenol PM could not drown out the sound. You could feel the beat of the music in the walls. So neither of us got much sleep.

The first part of the day had us following along the river path which was very nice. A bit windy but the trees helped to buffer it a bit. There were many more pilgrims out early this morning than we’ve seen on previous days, so it was nice to connect with more new faces (and reconnect with some of the other familiar ones). Like us, they were probably trying to get ahead of the wind that was supposed to kick up by 11 AM.

I noticed a surprising number of cigarette butts on the side of trail this morning. I hope it is not my fellow pilgrims leaving them behind! (Maybe it’s just local teenagers, sneaking off and smoking. Some things are universal and timeless.) Otherwise, there has been very little litter on the trails, and in the cities and towns we’ve passed through. The only exception is the plaza this morning after last night’s festival, littered with plastic cups, broken bottles, food wrappers, etc. But I have also seen folks in these towns out early sweeping the streets and sidewalks. So hopefully it will be nice and clean for the next set of pilgrims that come through today.

The wind did pick up quite a bit mid morning. But our goretex raincoats definitely cut the wind down, so it was manageable at least. We stopped at a little chapel on the side of the road and lit a candle for mom and dad. I really needed to pee, but decided to hold it for a proper bathroom at the next town about 1.5km away, given Rory’s experience earlier. (She said it can’t go on the blog… suffice it to say that urinating au natural in a strong wind is a messy business!) We stopped in Villalcazar de Sirga for coffee, snack, rest and to get out of the wind for a bit. Only 6km to go, but a solid headwind the whole way. Most of the time it was maybe 15mph wind, but every so often there would be a 30mph gust that would nearly blow me off the trail, if not for my trekking poles.

I finally got into the zen of walking in the wind. Fully bundled with baseball cap, buff, sunglasses and windbreaker (that’s me the photo with the pilgrim statue), I just leaned into it and listened to music. (Ironically I was listening to “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John, and when we got to our hotel room there was a print of Marilyn Monroe above the bed!) My feet and legs were getting pretty tired, so I stepped very carefully. That’s where the zen part came in - just focused on each step, knowing that each one was bringing me closer to our destination. Rory was not having any of that zen bullshit… she cursed the wind the entire way. But she’s better now, after a hot shower, a nap, some wine and the knowledge that we have an even shorter day tomorrow, flat terrain and no wind in the forecast! So off we went to do laundry - much more savvy this time.

A great meal at our hotel tonight, so we are ready for a new day. We are right across the street from the church, so those damn church bells better stay quiet tonight!