Day 5 (March 31) — Iowa in España – 11 Miles

I start this blog with a view of Carrion’s plaza mayor below my window. A beautiful scene at sunrise.

I left my hotel for Bar Pichi’s for breakfast about 400 meters down the road. The place was hopping at 8:00. The place was compact – enough room for three tables and the bar. The only seat left when I arrived was at the bar. Otherwise, it was standing room only. I took the image below so that you can see a very typical breakfast scene of a bar in action. The baristas were making 5-6 cups of different coffee offerings per minute. Starbucks? Pshaw.

I was now fortified to start on the Camino and rejoin the pack across the Rio Carrión. A beautiful castle overlooked the river as I crossed the bridge.

My friends were staying at the elegant 4-star Monestario that indeed was once a Monestery.

While waiting in lobby, a large group of young people came through. The young men looked liked basketball players. They were from Cornell College, Cedar Rapids. One of the moms joined in; she is a Hawkeye graduate. Sorry to those Cyclones in our family; none were to be found. I think that you can tell who the non-Iowan is in the group.

They were touring the Camino in 10 days choosing the most picturesque sections. They were on to Leon which is four days away. This busload of Americans changed in an instant the demographics on the Camino!

The previous two days showed the varied terrain of the Meseta. Now, we were experiencing the long flat terrain that seemed endless until we reached our destination of Calzadilla de la Cueza, a village that you could walk through in a minute.

When we got to town, I thought that my hotel was in front of us. I checked in and the clerk handed me a small towel enclosed in a plastic bag. He said that I had bed 15. Whoa. Bed 15, not room 15? I was in the dorm albergue and not my hotel of the same name. I thanked him upon leaving after I took a photo of the dorm room. To get the albergue experience, John is foregoing his room in the hotel for a bed in the albergue. NOT!

Before making my way to the hotel, I stopped with the pack for some cerveza. Charles from Australia had caught up with us. Note the brace on his left knee. He walked the Camino from St Jean (lower route over the Pyrenees because the upper opens in 1 April) and is planning to finish in Santiago. He had his knee replaced seven weeks, yes, weeks, before he started in St Jean. Amazing willpower and desire. Rehab was too boring for him.

The hotel was about 200 meters away from our cerveza stop. Keith and I checked in.

Happy Hour!

We ordered two large frosted glasses of cerveza. Across from us was a table with the green felt cloth, cards, and metal chips that we observed with the players from Bar Central. The felt cloth had the Pepsi logo. How did Coca-Cola lose out when its sign is above the hotel entrance? The cards were indeed different from our decks. The metal chips were not euro coins. John found out that the game played in this region is called “mus.” The table was open to any patrons who wanted to play.

Dinner was the usual three course pilgrim’s meal. I started with a salad (very fresh), a soup with chorizo, Serrano ham, and an egg though I wanted beans but they were out of any servings, apple tart, and local vino tinto. Delicious.

I had two bonuses today. Kitty love from a cat who looked like our beloved cat, Sherman. And, a sublime sunset from my window.