Holy Rollers: Camino de Santiago Day 16

Day 16: Fromista – Carrion de los Condes

Distance: 19.5 km

Another slog through a mostly drizzly, definitely muddy day. We took an alternate route to get away from the road noise. I don’t know if it made much of a difference.

We tried to take the alternate routes as much as possible. We figured they are travelled by less pilgrims so our walks would be quieter. They were. The main trails were not too crowded this time of the year so any route off of the main was deserted.

The highlight of the walk was probably when I took a break with the Sardinian Darling. She had been ahead all day, but during her break I managed to catch up enough to sit with her. We sat under a covered porch of a church built in the 1200’s. It was here where an international version of the game freeze out was played.

For those who don’t know, freeze out is a very simple game (not the game in the car with the windows down). I learned the game from Elizabeth’s cousin, Bullet. The game is easy, basically all you do is not talk/acknowledge someone in a group. It usually works best when someone is trying to walk up and join a conversation.Since the Sardinian Darling and I were talking and Elizabeth was about to walk up, I thought it would be appropriate to freeze her out. The Sardinian was not comfortable with giving Elizabeth the silent treatment, but after some coaxing, agreed to try. She thought she might laugh and give it away.

So Elizabeth walked up, said a couple of words and sat down. The Sardinian and I were still talking and minding our own business. Sadly, Elizabeth immediately knew what was happening and chastised the group.

We arrived to Carrion excited to be staying at another suggested place from the guide book. The book we have “hearts” locations that are highly preferred places to stay. The night we took a private room in Belorado, Casa Waslala, was such a place.

The place tonight was called Santa Maria. It is run by prospective nuns. They welcome you with warm tea, a smiling face, and a joyous spirit. It was even difficult for me to retain my typical smugness. Their generosity and hospitality were overwhelming.

They invited us to a “musical experience” taking place in the foyer of the albergue later that night. Having never been invited to a “musical experience” we thought it would be worth a try. When the time came, the prospective sisters sat around, one with a guitar, and we began singing songs provided from handouts.

There were songs in many different languages, Spanish, English, German, Italian, probably French as well. When your language came up in a song, the native population was asked to sing loudest so everyone could hear the native tongue. Our crowd was mostly English, Italian, and German-speaking.

After a few songs, the nuns asked if anyone wanted to play the guitar, or an out of tune ukulele. As it turned out, our Northern Sardinian could carry a tune and play a few chords.

She first sang “Cielito Lindo” and then went into some rock and roll. We sang along, with the nuns, to the Beatles “Let It Be” and the Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, as sung by Guns n’ Roses. It was a wonderful cultural experience.

 

We had no idea she had such a talent. Of course, having only known her for about seven days that makes sense.

After the singing, Rachele (Southern Sardinian aka the Sardinian Darling) and I headed straight to the kitchen. It was going to be my first Italian cooking lesson. It was much cheaper than our lesson in Barcelona, but equally as informative. The menu for the evening was zucchini risotto. I was the prep cook, cutting up the onion and zuchini. She did the cooking. She prepared the liquid that was to go into the risotto, consisting of the tops of the onion, zuchini, and a leftover carrot.

Where was the garlic you may be wondering? Still at the grocery store.

I was informed that you do not use garlic and onion in the same dish. Only one or the other. And battle lines are drawn. Her father’s family uses garlic in their dishes. Her mother’s family uses onion. This rule apparently holds true for 99% of all dishes with the exception of one or two that always use garlic or onion, regardless of family loyalties. It was a mundane topic for her, but it was fascinating to me.

I watched her intently as she prepared the risotto, and she even let me add in the saffron. The risotto was delicious. Everyone enjoyed it immensely. I was amazed that with so few ingredients she could make something everyone walking on the Camino would be jealous of.

From that point on, I was going to do anything possible to stay close and learn more about how Italians, or if nothing else, a Sardinian cooks.

We had a little risotto left over, even after everyone had two bowls, so we offered the remaining bit to, as we called them, the odd couple. The odd couple was a Korean man and a Japanese man.

As I made gestures to indicate we were giving the risotto to them. The Japanese man bowed to me and said, “Arigato.” It was a humbling experience. He was so formal with his thank you and all I was offering was risotto that was an hour old, even if delicious.

The odd couple was our favorite pair on the Camino. The Korean man was around 40ish, with a wide wonderful smile, and knew a little bit of English. He was always taking many pictures of pilgrims walking. The Japanese man was older, in his later 60’s, much quieter than the Korean man, and knew almost no English.

They also seemed not to know each other’s language either. So they talked to each other in extremely broken English, a lot of hand gestures, and a continued willingness to share all meals with one another (offering food to anyone near them as well) and walk together. it was a great Camino friendship to watch, maybe the best on the Camino.

They met during the first week at some point and after that moment, were always together. On one of the really slow days early in our Camino, Elizabeth and I took yet another break. We could see a large hill in the distance and heard someone yelling at the top and waving. As we were walking by the backside of the hill, where the path to the top was located, the Korean man was climbing down to tell us we needed to come to the top to get a good picture of the view.

At the top, he and the Japanese man were having a breakfast break. The Korean man demanded we take an orange and the Japanese man gave us an apple. We were out of fruit and most other food, but I had some sunflower seeds in a pocket. As it was all I had to offer, I gave what I had.

They were appreciative and we all enjoyed a communal meal at the top of the mountain, thankful for the friendship, camaraderie, and giving spirit that can bring people together who can’t talk to each other. And everyone just be happy to be fed and alive and healthy.

We saw them a few more times on the Camino, but they eventually started walking longer days and we lost them around week three.

The Camino gives, and the Camino takes.