12. Day 8 - Castrojeriz to Carrion de los Condes

The 'Caravan Park' host turned out to be an absolute winner, providing us with a fantastic breakfast of eggs and bacon (they have THE BEST bacon) plus toast butter and jam. Well nourished we were on the road around 8.45 anticipating a very warm day and around 40k's on the Camino. However, the early going was fairly easy as we were on the road for the first 6k. We then hit the Camino trail which was OK although a bit rough and we managed to get to Boadilla del Camino after 17k and  2hrs. From then on we went back on the road. We don't mind being on a road if runs alongside the Camino, which this was. So the rest of the ride was fairly uneventful apart from the fact that we had lost Pat and Jenny after 10k. Well we just went different ways and eventually caught up at our destination in Carrion de los Condes. So now we have done 348k and when we are 7k along the road tomorrow we will be half-way. The Barrowman seems to be continuing to weave through our Camino story. Last night we arrived at the camping ground to find him already there and asleep in his tent! Today we again saw him pass us when we stopped for a coffee and then tonight we went into the restaurant for dinner and he was sitting at a table eating his dinner! We now have his name which is Wim, but to us he will probably be forever immortalised as "the barrowman".  He told us he walks an average of 40 kms a day. Not bad for a 70 yo! Our accomodation tonight is a Pension 45 euro and has a beautiful courtyard. Again, spotless and a fabulous Pilgrims Menu for 10 euro (3 courses). Spanish people seem to have tapas around 3pm and the evening meal at 8pm. However for the pilgrims they will usually serve a meal around 7pm as they know we cant stay up late.  Today we crossed the border between the Province of Leon and Palencia. We were riding for some of the time through recently cut cereal fields. These had been stacked into haystacks that were sometimes so big that they looked like buildings from a distance. We passed through one village where the church called, La Iglesia de la Virgin Blanca was built in the 12th century by the Knights Templar. We rode quite a way following the Canal de Castilla. this canal was built in 18th century and took 70 years and is 207 kms long and was originally built to transport grain. We passed a huge lock with 4 separate gates and a 14 metre elevation that the boats had ro be lowered down. We stopped for lunch at a beautiful Albergue with a grassed picnic area and it had amplified Christmas carols being played in September which was a little different, but kind of peaceful. It had some very unusual accommodation, including 2 wigwams and a couple of concrete pipes, completw with wooden doors made to fit!
NOTE Sorry to those who have tried to leave comments on our blog but unfortunately this section does not seem to be working Thanks to all those who have sent emails which we have very much appreciated. Also photos seem to be beyond our technical skills at the moment but hope to spend some time getting some on soon.