The Way to Land's End

• Starting Point: Frómista
• Ending Point: Carrión de los Condes
• Daily distance: 11.62 miles (18.7 km)
• Total distance: 227.03 miles (365.37 km)

The full moon gazed down on us as we exited Frómista before dawn. The expectation for the trail today was not exciting. The guidebook indicated we would mostly follow a gravel trail alongside a highway. But we were pleasantly surprised with the diversions along the way. 

As we were walking through a small town looking for a “café con leche”, Spain’s delicious coffee drink of choice, I spotted a donkey in front of a cafe. Well, I’m not going to pass up visiting with a donkey. It turned out to be a fun albergue with a small cafe attached. Out milling about in the yard were two donkeys, ducks and geese. The donkeys were very friendly and let me pet them. It was quite an interesting cafe and albergue too. The barista sang and you could sleep in a Teepee or a tube! I would have loved to stay there but we needed to put in some more miles. 

Our next stop was a church in Villalcazar that houses the Virgen Blanca, “white virgin”, an image believed by King Alfonso X to perform miracles. 

We then continued down the road. Although we were following a highway, the views alongside were captivating. I once again got lost staring into the horizon and the many shades of blue overhead. 

Our albergue this evening is in a convent. A couple of very kind nuns check us in and escort us to our room. It is a large open room with 12 single beds. 

I remove my socks after I get to my bed to discover that I earned my first blister. It is on my heel in the spot that I thought was a callus, but now it has bubbled up and is quite sore. I apply some Compeed and tape it up. 

Mass was quite touching this evening. This town, Carrión de los Condes, is known for their singing nuns. They sang many of the hymns during mass. Then during the pilgrims blessing, a young nun stood before the gathering and gave a touching speech about pilgrimage. She told us that her order made us each a special gift to take on our journey, a paper star to represent Jesus. Each of us then stepped forward individually, were annointed with oil by a nun, prayed for and handed a paper star. When I stepped forward, I felt quite humbled.  The nun looked into my eyes and there was such kindness, love and peace reflected back at me. To feel so sincerely cared for by a complete stranger made my heart spill over and leak out of my eyes. 

After the blessing, all the pilgrims gathered in front of Santa Maria del Camino. The priest told us that eight centuries of pilgrims had stood before her and that now was our turn. I felt quite emotional when considering all the pilgrims that had gone before me. Each with their own story, their own struggles, their own triumphs. And I was getting to add my little story to theirs. Wow!