Our Albergue in Fromista was very basic and did not even have a kitchen but luckily it was situated next door to a small hotel with a bar and restaurant. That evening Jacques and I drank a couple of beers and dined on pizza before attempting to get some sleep which was frequently disturbed by loud snoring from one of the other inmates.
The following morning we set off bright and early and after a few kilometres stopped at a small bar for a breakfast of cafe con leche and a French omelette which was served the Spanish way in a sandwich of dry bread. For some peculiar reason it is almost impossible to get butter on your bread in this part of Spain.
Everywhere along the dirt paths we came across small craters with holes in the centre made by black ants which were about the size of wood ants that you find in pine forests in the UK. I always found these ants fascinating and quite often stopped and stared at their behaviour for several minutes at a time, any old excuse for a rest.
We had a choice of routes this morning, the direct one alongside the busy road or the longer but prettier path hugging the banks of a tranquil slow running river. We chose the latter and followed the river to the small village of Villacalzar de Sirga where we visited the church of Santa Maria la Virgen Blanca which houses the tombs of nobles and royalty. The carving above the main door was quite impressive and the church also contained a wooden frieze depicting the life of St James and how he came to be in Spain.
Our path now rejoined the primary route which we followed for several kilometres alongside of the main road to the town of Carrion de Los Condes. There are several Albergues in the town, the one that we selected was next to the church and run by an order of Nuns who were extremely welcoming to peregrinos. While we were queuing to sign in they served us with cups of tea and offered us sweets.
After taking a shower and washing our dusty clothes, Jacques and I took a stroll into the main square past a bronze statue of a medieval pilgrim. There we found a delightful little bar which sold a local delicacy; a delicious apple cake made just for sharing along with the usual beers. The town even had an outdoors shop where I was able to buy a pair of walking trousers to replace the pair that I had left in Logrono. Whilst walking back to our albergue we bumped into Amy and Lucy who were staying in a different hostel we all arranged to meet up later that evening for dinner.
Upon arriving in our albergue we had another pleasant surprise as Pablo had arrived after he had been wandering aimlessly around Northern Spain as usual, probably looking for lost possessions.
I could also hear the voice of the 'Whinging Pom' coming from the next dormitory, still sounding as if he was upset by something or other. I must have audibly voiced by annoyance at his whinging, as an Australian pilgrim who had just arrived found this quite humorous.
At 7:00 pm our group all met up at a local hotel where we ate dinner which was one of the best peregrino's meals that I had eaten so far. As we were finishing our dinner a German woman at another table stood up on her chair and serenaded us all with songs from the opera Carmen. She was very good and made several encores to rapturous applause from all the diners. It was an excellent evening all round.
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