Welcome to the Meseta

Castrojeriz has a lot more to offer than Hornillos and we got to see a lot of it just looking for a place to eat lunch. Our hotelier told us we had arrived too late to reserve a table so we went in search of food. We asked a couple locals and they recommended the Meson, so that is where we went and ate well. Returning to our lodging, we came across a community park where a group of men were playing a game called Tuta. The object is to hit a wooden pin, the “tuta”, with a metal disk about 3” in diameter and 1/2” thick, from about 40’. There were some incongruities about the rules of the game, but we did see several “hits”. I think if you miss you have to yell “puta!”.

We then went to the Santo Domingo de Guzman cathedral which had a light show of the Camino projected on the ceiling and several interactive booths with more on the history, legends and facts of the Camino. Santo Domingo was founder of the Dominicans who were prominent early on in the New World. (What’s the capital of the Dominican Republic? Santo Domingo!). The church was damaged in the Lisbon earthquake of 1756 and one of the main columns is visibly tilted, though buttressed on the outside.

We walked by an interesting hostel run by a Buddhist holy man and another woman. Our new Camino friends, Ed and Darcy, stayed there but found there were few boundary conditions, mandatory meditation and some weird pilgrims who seemed trapped there. Ed and Darcy managed to escape early before the Koolaid breakfast.

We rose early so we could take advantage of the cool morning weather and set out for Fromista, more than 15 miles distant. There is a difficult climb outside of Castrojeriz which had Paula a little worried, but she negotiated it successfully. The rest of the trail conformed to the meseta characteristics: flat and dry with wide vistas of brown earth and patches of green and yellow. After nearly 3 hours we found a coffee shop for breakfast.

The Pisuerga river broke the monotony of the dry trail as we neared Fromista. The Pisuerga rises in the Cantabrian mountains and it flows into the Duero. A forest of poplars surrounded the river and provided welcome shade.

The last few miles past Boadilla were along a canal with a little canal boat ferrying tourists. (Memories of Erin’s birthday — 30th, wasn’t it?).

It was nearly 90 degrees by the time we reached Fromista and Sra. Mila welcomed us to the Hostal Camino de Santiago with our arrival beer – a couple cans of cold Mahou. We celebrated Paula’s achievement with lunch at Los Palmeros, an upscale restaurant in Fromista. We had a great meal but the most unusual dish was the gazpacho: it was served on a scoop of tomato and basil ice cream. Perfect for the hot day!