El Camino de Santiago - 2017

Day 10: Hontanas to Itero de la Vega

Michelle wrote:
16 Sept. Saturday
We left Hontanas at 7:24 am and walked in the predawn light.  The trail went between some hills, so we couldn’t tell where we were going.  The valley ended and we walked along a long tree-lined road with alfalfa fields and cottonwood trees.  We came to the ruins of a convent founded in 1146, San Anton, and across the road was a little outdoor cafe.  I asked for Cola Cao and the owner said that it was for children!  He only sold coffee.  So we left.  Humph!  The next town was Castrojeriz - a town wrapped around the  base of a hill with the ruins of a castle on the top.  We met a woman from Bristol, TN there and enjoyed a glass of fresh orange juice with her.  It was good to hear a good ole southern accent in Spain!  

Curtis found a sign in the cafe he liked:
“We invite people here twice a week.  Once was yesterday, and the other is tomorrow.”

We liked Castrojeriz because it is clean and the people are friendly.  We stopped at a church on the way out of town and I took a little tour of it.  It had a little museum with their old processional crosses, chalices, relics, etc.  It wasn’t overly ornate and had nice paintings of the life of Christ behind the altar instead of statues of saints and apostles.  Near the exit there were wooden models of various churches and bridges that were quite amazing.  The host had me look inside a window of the model of this particular church and there was miniature painting of Mary over an altar - just like the one in this church.  Then I looked in another hole and saw the miniature of the rosetta window.  It was very cool.  The detail work was very nice and I enjoyed that part of the exhibit.  This was also the first church that I was able to see just what exactly the relics were that are so important to the church.  I’d always been curious about that.

Castrojeriz

We crossed a river and began a long,steep climb to the top of the hill where we had a fantastic view of the big, wide valley and the long camino ahead.  There was a rest shelter at the top and we met several other pilgrims recovering from the climb.  We could see the tiny pilgrims ahead of us on the camino and three villages.  It was steep coming down, but the road was paved, so that it wouldn’t be slippery when wet.  We crossed a wide river on a narrow bridge and entered the province of Palencia.  Palencia is part of the region of Castille y Leon.

The road entering Itero de la Vega

We walked along the river into the town of Itero de la Vega and stopped at the albergue Hogar del Peregrino.  This was nice little pension that the owners of the supermercado next also owned.  It used to be a private home, but now is rented as a pension.  It has 3 double rooms and 1 single room upstairs, 2 baths, a kitchen and a living room.  It was nice and quiet - no bars nearby.  There was a very large framed picture of a sailing ship that was actually a 4,000 piece puzzle that they glued together.  It was very nice.  It was a gift from Blanca (the owner) to her husband.  he said he wasn’t sure if it was meant to be a gift or torture!  

We did our laundry and I sat on a bench on the street in the sun while the clothes dried on the rack next to me.  It was very pleasant sitting there.  

Michelle sitting in the shade while the clothes dry across the street in Itero de la Vega

The people who stopped to talk to me were very nice.  Blanca made us dinner and we had a nice conversation with a couple from Ohio and the Sweeneys from Oregon, and a young man from Argentina.  We were in bed by 10:00 pm.

Curtis writes:
Because we spent the night with 4 other people in the room, it was hard to sleep in.  The ladys from Belgium or France started moving first, then our friends from California and finally us.  So, for once we were not the last ones out of the albergue.  As mentioned before, the Camino drops off the plain into a valley with Hontanas just over the rim from the plane.  The valley widens to alphapha fields irrigated by sprinklers and lined with cottonwood trees.

Looking Back: Because you can't see the backpacks on the walkers in this picture,
you can tell the image is looking backwards, away from Santiago.

Looking Forward: The sun shining on Castrojeriz.  Our destination is beyond the mountain on the horizon.

Eventually the valley opens up wide, with a tall hill in the middle.  Hey, that's a great place to build a castle.

From Castrojeriz one can see the Camino going up out of the vally and back on the plain.
click HERE to see Castrojeriz in Google Maps

Half way up the hill, looking back at Castrojeriz

Up the hill from Castrojeriz

Looking towards Itero de la Vega along the green band created by the river (Rio Pisuerga)

The advantage of walking in September is that the weather is merciful in long shadeless sections like this.  I feared being wind blasted - but that was not a problem.

Home sweet Home in Itero de la Vega