Day 16 - Castrojeriz to Fromista - 15.5 miles

It is hard to believe I have been walking for over two weeks already! I began my walk today meeting two new Canadian ladies from my hotel. We only had a brief exit to the town before starting the climb up the mountain. It was a beautiful view of the surrounding valley and sunrise followed by a steep descent down the other side. Then it was lots of fields of the Meseta for quite a while.

Sunrise on the top of the mountain

Down the other side - not a tree in sight

I came upon the doctors from CA and walked with them for awhile. We stopped at the Ermita de San Nicholas (a 13th Century building that was restored by an Italian Confraternity). It is now a small primitive hostel with no electricity, phones or modern conveniences but serves a wonderful candlelight dinner and breakfast for their guests. From what I understand, it is very difficult to get a reservation there. During the day you can go in for hot coffee, fresh grapes and small snacks for a donation. It was a soothing respit from the wind and cold of the morning.

Quiet rest at Ermita de San Nicholas

I walked on and the doctors remained. That is one of the things I love about the Camino. You can walk together for a while and then part ways until you meet again - with no hurt feelings. If people prefer to tackle a mountain alone or just be by themselves, then they just tell you to go on ahead.

As we exited the last town before Fromista, the path ran parallel to a canal the entire way. It was a beautiful change in scenery. You could even take a little barge to town for the pilgrim

price of 3€. I walked with G, the German who calls me "fast walking Jenny" and we were discussing the difficulty people are having finding accommodations. He didn't even have a confirmed reservation in the town 5 km away!

Once arriving at the edge of Fromista at 12:15pm, I stopped at a picnic area to enjoy my "picnic breakfast" for lunch. You had to cross over one of the lochs to get to town. Sometimes you just luck out with something special going on - today was this day!!! They were having the Día de Tourismo de Castillo y Leon! There were all sorts of marching bands with bagpipes, musicians, dancers in traditional costumes, wood chopping demonstrations, and these giant "characters" on display. It was so fun to watch, and I took lots of pictures and videos.

Día de Turismo in Fromista

While walking around town, T from Vancouver arrived, and we went to have a drink at an outdoor cafe. It had turned into a beautiful, warm sunny day by then. We actually sat there for about 2 hours and saw so much good food go by, that we wanted to return for dinner! Some days are perfect in every way, and this was one of those days.