Sunday 7th May
Distance 20.2km / 12.5 miles
Hontanas – Itero de la Vega
I got up as early as I could, got packed in the common room and said Morning Prayer on the terrace as dawn broke. As I set off I realised I hadn’t thought to have a look round the village yesterday. It was quite charming. I even wondered what the parochial albergue would have been like.
This was another day of not knowing where I would sleep that night. It does colour the way I walk as I am less likely to stop and enjoy. On the outskirts of the village there was a handy reminder of how far I still had left to walk.
I spent the first part of the walk chatting with George from Liverpool. It was strange how two people who walked at very different speeds kept meeting each other and often seemed to stay in the same places. George also seemed to stop at every cafe or bar for a coffee. As we walked together along a beautiful valley I couldn’t help feel sorry for the pilgrims who thought the Meseta was boring.
George and me parted company again before we reached the Arco San Anton. Its a very atmospheric place and one of the places which I had thought it would be good to stay. It has no electricity! It’s arch still spans the trail as it did centuries ago.
It was relatively easy walking though in places they had re-surfaced the trail with chippings which seemed to make it more difficult to walk. Soon we were in sight of Castrojeriz. A beautiful village built around the hill on which is a ruined castle. Yet another place I had thought of staying. On a Sunday morning the place seemed dead, not even a nice bar to stop for refreshment.
All that was open was the church of Santa Clara. I took the opportunity to pray and have a look around. It was more of a museum than a functioning church.
Once you are through the quiet streets of the village you go downhill and I was confronted by a very high and steep hill, the Alto de Mostelares. I had read so much stuff before I started this journey which talked about this part of the way (the Meseta) as being boring. It was flat and there were no mountains. I can however confirm that there were still hills and this was a significant one at a height of 900m. This was one of those hills where I had to stop frequently on the way up. The views were worth it though.
Thankfully there was a covered shelter at the top which had seats! A rest was just what I needed. and then going down the other side the view was different but every bit as impressive.
After some steady walking down the hill and across the plain, I had hoped to stay at a little Albergue – a little hermitage, the Ermita de San Nicolas. Sadly there was already a considerable number of pilgrims waiting to get in and I decided there were already going to be some who would be disappointed. Anxiety was beginning to creep in and I carried on with the hope that I could find a bed in the next village, Itero de la Vega. I crossed over a bridge which was the border into the region of Palencia. There was a policeman standing there beside his vehicle. He was armed too. On later did I wonder whether he would have been ok with me taking his photo.I walked through the village and went into the first Albergue I found and they had beds! What a relief.
It was a very basic place, it felt like it had fallen on hard times. It was an odd place, everything apart from the bed seemed to be on a donation basis, even the can of beer I had while waiting in the garden for check-in. I really didn’t have the energy to look around the village, I was so tired. After getting my shower and doing my laundry I lay on my bed and fell asleep. I woke up, with a headache.
The communal meal was a mixture, the food was uninspiring but the company was excellent. There was a soup followed by a stew. Sadly the soup felt like it was the thinned down liquid from the stew. I had given my donation for the meal in advance and I might have been tempted to reduce the amount! I chatted to several people I had met before including the ever present George from Liverpool.
I still wasn’t feeling so great so went to bed early. At least I had reserved a bed for tomorrow which made for a more restful sleep.