August 21st

Leaving the narrow streets of Hontanas I was being chased by the sound of the church ringing seven bells. Smaller villages use the bell like an alarm clock and in some places it rings all night like an old ship bell. A couple of blocks down I ran into Gontranh who was limping bad and very down in spirits. We talked about it and I encouraged him to take a bus to Fromista and sit for a day to rest.         As you leave town you walk along a path mid way up the ridge along the ever widening valley. At the very bottom a creek wanders through marked by a thin ribbon of green foilage that borders and separates it from the surrounding dry hills. Soon you descend and start along a road which brings you to the Convento de San Anton which was a hospice for a type of leprosy that plagued the country during middle ages. A dramatic arch rises over the road with the abbey to one side and as I walked up a flock of morning doves took off in unison leaving me with one of those sights that etches itself into your memory. Inside the arch were cubby holes used to leave food in for travellers after the abbey gates had been closed for the night. Now pilgrims use the  holes to leave messages for each other. A couple of kilometres further brought me to the town of Castrojeriz with its ruined castle perched high on a hill. You enter the town at the Igesia de Santa Domingo marking the towns western entrance. I stopped here had an espresso and sweet roll, then pushed on crossing a main road and walking by a preserved stretch of Roman road and then a marsh always heading towards the climb at Alto De Mostelares with its exposed seams of mica that were mined by the Romans in ancient times.  The climb was a steep 1200 feet but by now I wasn't experiencing any of the problems that had bothered me the first few days. At the top was a big sky vista. Feeling like some music I tuned in the Chieftains and Lorenna Mckennitt and then after a short walk across the flat hill top I came down the other side and had a beautiful stroll along a farm track towards the Rio Pisuerga and its eleven arched bridge the Puente de Itero. I stuck my head in at the thirteenth century Hospital de San Nicolas for a quick look and then headed off to Itero de la Vega the next town.        Finding a supermarket I went in for a baguette and some fruit. While at the fruit stand a woman got quite agitated pointing at the Canadian flag on my backpack. My first thought was oh no she had remembered the Spanish Canadian Turbot war and I was thinking thank you Brian Tobin when I realized she was just amazed that somebody from Canada was walking the camino. I certainly didn't think I would be a novelty as a great number of my countrymen do it every year. Then when I got to the cash register she wouldn't let me pay and despite my best efforts that was the way it stayed. I gave her a kiss on the cheek and took a picture of her and her mother outside before high tailing it back to the track which again led through the farmland. The fields have a great system of irrigation ditches and sluices all being fed by a canal system. Farmers here have really worked hard at getting the water to where they need it. Around 1pm I walked into the village at Boadilla watered up and took off for Fromista walking alongside the Canal de Castilla an engineering wonder that was just finished in time to be displaced by the even newer railway craze. It was a quiet walk and soon I was in Fromista, flat and dominated by brick and adobe construction so unlike the stone work of Basque country. I found the municipal albergue did my shower laundry routine and spent the rest of the day putting entries into my journal. Gontranh was there resting and had made his mind up to take the train into Leon three or four days away and rest. Later that night I went out and there found David who joined myself and some Italians for a pilgrim's dinner after which I headed back early to find all the lights out in the dorms. I laid on my bunk in the dark covered by the nights heat listening to the children who played well towards midnight. Looking to fall asleep I put Leonard Cohen on the Ipod and fell asleep to be continued

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