Days 29 – 31, We’ve been walking for a whole month

Day 29 – Oct 4, 2022 – Boadillo del Camino to Villarmentero (14.95 km / 9.29 miles)

Unexpectedly, today flew by.  We somehow managed to make it to our albergue by noon. 

Of course, it helped we started out before dawn. It was pitch black outside. The skies were clear which gave us spectacular views of the stars against the black sky. Thank goodness for our headlamps lighting our way making it easy to get miles behind is before the sun woke up. 

The guidebook (app) notated an alternate route which boasted more shade and a walk along the river, but it was a half a kilometer longer than the traditional route. We were making great time, feet were feeling good, and it was getting hotter, so we opted for the alternative route. 

We followed a “river” which was actually a man made canal for only a short time, and as for shade…all lies!  There were at most a couple shady patches. Luckily we were able to check into our albergue early and enjoy lounging in hammocks for several hours before the heat of the day kicked in. 

The property had a hippie vibe with eclectic art, and a chill personality.  There were barn animals as well, and a crazy guard goose. No shit, literally a guard goose. He was too funny. There was a local man so scared of him, he stood on a bench and threw sticks when the goose would come near him. We think the goose was attracted to his cigarette smoke because the goose would hold its head up as high as it could seeming to sniff the air near the smoking area. It was hilarious. In the video you can see the guy at the start on the left while a woman tried to distract the goose with a broom and he attacked it. 

Day 30 – Oct 5, 2022 – Villarmentero to Carrión de Los Condes (9.78 km / 6.7 miles)

We had a short day of walking next to a highway today. Luckily it was a dedicated path that paralleled the road rather than forcing us to walk on the road itself. We hate walking on paved roads. It’s absolute murder on the feet!

We chose the shorter day so we could stay in a converted monastery for the night. The room was beautiful and we got to take a tour of the monastery itself as part of our room rate. 

The monastery of San Zoilo was appreciated by the ancient pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, mostly due to its hospital.  It was founded in the 10th Century under the name of San Juan Bautista, renovated during the 11th Century. It’s name changed to San Zoilo. Originally it was ascribed to the Benedictine order but over the centuries it has belonged to Clunians and Jesuits, and not many years ago it was a Minor Seminary.

Since we were in a hotel tonight we needed to find a place for dinner.  We could have splurged and enjoyed and lovely expensive meal at our hotel restaurant, but chose to venture out. After passing many cafés and bars serving bocadillos (sandwiches), we stumbled on a very busy restaurant serving a pilgrim meal. For 14€ per person we got pasta, chicken and fries, water, dessert and (of course) bread. It was a nice meal and the carbs should help fuel our long hike tomorrow. 

Day 31 – Oct 6, 2022 – Carrión de Los Condes to Calzadilla de la Cueza (17.06 km / 10.6 miles)

Today’s hike was a long, uneventful walk through a lot of nothingness. Our destination was 17 km away and there were no towns or services along the way. No food, no water, no lodging, and most importantly, no toilets. So we packed up the groceries we had purchased yesterday and set out again before the sun came up.

It was surprisingly windy all day today. Luckily, it was at our backs pushing us along, but we repeatedly played the game of taking off layers as our body heat rose just to put them back on when the sun would go behind a cloud and the wind would chill us again. This played out multiple times during the day.