September 7, 2013
To Carrion de les Condes: The Wedding
When we went walking last night we made a wonderful discovery. The church of St Juan is at the far end of the town and is in part a museum with very well preserved cloisters. There was lots of information, just wish we had some functional Spanish. We gathered that in the 17th century there was some sort of tie up between Castrojeriz and Flanders and I think it involved the wool trade. The result is that this church in this tiny little town has some magnificent art work in particular some very early tapestries. The Flemish influence was easy to see in the art work.
Dinner was with Kay and Marcus from Melbourne who are walking the Camino. They look extremely fit and I think walk fast and cover big distances. For the all inclusive charge of 11E each we got a big and lovely salad, paella, icecream and pana cota, a full bottle of Vino Tinto and a desert wine to finish. What is more it was all beautiful I can’t imagine better value.
When we left this morning there was a very dark looking sky, thunder and a few spots of rain. It is time we got some bad weather as we have had only 2 days with rain but it was not to be everything cleared up and our coats didn’t even get wet. Once again the route was easy, I am absolutely amazed by the standard of the roads and in particular the very little traffic on them, we only see a car about once every 5 or 10 minutes and then feel slightly put out that they should be on our road! The cycle route at times is next to the walking route but at other times takes you through different little villages. Our maps are perfect. One thing is that there are lots of bars along the way so there is never any trouble getting a coffee or something to eat. These bars do very well from pilgrims and their prices are so low compared with France. We had coffee at Boadilla del Camino and then although it was only about 11am lunch at Fromista. Ken has been really looking forward to having a Bocadillo and it was delicious with a filling of anchovies and pimentos.
We have a room in a Hostal at Carrion de les Condes , very clean and nice with secure bike storage and good wifi (35E double) and I see they have a pilgrim meal for 11E. The excitement here this afternoon has been the wedding in the church opposite. Spanish sure dress up for a wedding with all the women in long dresses like bridesmaids dresses and the men in shiny black suits, spikey hair and dark glasses’ they look as if they could have come out of ‘The Sopranos’. When the bride arrives there is true magnificence with a strapless flowing gown with the longest train I have ever seen. The train did provide a bit of a problem though as it kept getting caught in the gratings and around trees as she processed to the church. The exit from the church was even more spectacular. Rockets were launched with the most enormous explosions. Loud banging fireworks were thrown everywhere and the spectators had long tubes which discharged masses amounts of confetti and streamers. There was enough rice thrown to feed a multitude paella. Then it started to rain a little and off drove the bride and groom in a beautifully decorated car with a long trail of beer cans tied on behind. I am sure the after match function will go on until the small hours.
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Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 2,300 km (1,428 miles)
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