Pilgrims on the Way

The alternate route did not start out with promise, looking suspiciously similar to the route along the highway. The major difference was that this route was flanked by an irrigation canal (seen on the left in the photo) rather than a busy highway. Fun fact: when we walked on the Meseta in 2016 during the hundred-year floods, many of these […]

In the village of Población de Campos, pilgrims must make a decision. Continue walking along the highway for the rest of the day, or take the detour through the countryside. The detour is longer by a couple of kilometers, but the reports we heard were all that it was a more pleasant walk. It would also severely limit our options […]

The village of Población de Campos is not one of those classically quaint villages you sometimes find on the Camino. It’s clearly a no-nonsense working agricultural village, and has been for a long, long time. The archaeology suggests there has been human settlement here since Roman times, though the first documentary evidence of the village dates to the 9th century. […]

I’m not a fan of highway walking, but if you have to do it, this is the way. I much prefer gravel to tarmac or concrete. This section is pretty much a straight line for ages, which does wear after a while. Fortunately, there’s an alternative route that will soon veer away from the highway and into the Meseta. Not […]

After leaving Frómista, the Camino follows the P-980 highway, which cuts across the Meseta in something approximating a straight line. It’s maddening, and for me at least, it makes the distance seem longer than it is. Eamon and I spent some time discussing our destination for the night. We’d already come more than 11 km today, and another 9km would […]

I mean, it’s probably monkeys riding cats there at the capital of this pillar in the Iglesia de San Martín de Tours in Frómista. I’ve limited myself to a single interior photo. If you’re interested in seeing more of this romanesque gem of a church, go see more photos on my Flickr page. Every capital is delightfully different, this despite […]

After lunch in a dive bar that advertised “perrito calliente” for €2 as their lunch special, we made our way to the Romanesque masterpiece of the Iglesia de San Martín de Tours. It was built in the 11th century as part of a monastery, now long gone. The tower was added in the 15th century. After a long period of […]

It was not quite 11 am when we entered the agricultural town of Frómista. Even so, we had started early in the day, and we were looking for lunch. Sightseeing would have to wait! Although the town is considered a major overnight stopping place for pilgrims, we would be pushing on towards Carrión de los Condos. Yes, it would be […]