Day 17: Carrión de los Condes – Terradillos de los Templarios
Distance: 27.3 km
Sunny Day. We walked as a group of five for most all of the day. Us with our Canadian Princess (Candice) and the Sardinian duo. We also ran into the tall Dutchman again. We hadn’t seen him since our breakfast in Los Arcos the week before.
It was useful to use the expression someone made up on our Camino, “The Camino gives, and the Camino takes.” We normally said it as a joke when something awful or crappy happened to you, or when Il Drago stayed in your albergue.
Only occasionally would you get to use the phrase in a positive manner. Seeing the Dutchman was just such a time. He was quite funny, easy to talk to, and always had a story to tell. He still remembered us too.
We also encountered “The Rivals” again while walking. We had met them the night before at Santa Maria. It was a group of around 6-8 people that had been walking together for the last 16 days. It was a German, British, and American outfit. They began the Camino the day after we did, all starting from St. Jean, just like us. Over the course of those 16 days, they caught up with us.
They were us. Only on a different day with a different pace. It further put into perspective what happens on the Camino. The people you meet and you walk with only exist because of the day you started. Had we started a day earlier or a day later and walked the same pace, we would not have met 99% of the people we encountered on our Camino. The Sardinians. Gone. The loveable, always-losing-something Candice. Gone. The two different Dutchmen. Gone. All the Danes, Gone. Half of Germany…
It made us further appreciate the people we had met and enjoyed time with. Sure, you can meet great people if you start on another day. Maybe even better people, but maybe not. Maybe the people you meet were perfect for your Camino. I’d say it was pretty close for us.
And so as we passed by The Rivals our team felt a little more important. A little tighter.
As we got to our albergue, we noticed he was here, Il Drago, Italian for The Dragon. A Spanish man whose name I won’t reveal, but he was known far and wide along the Camino for his snoring. He ruined everyone’s night wherever he went.
I bummed a sleeping pill from a friend and managed to get through the night. Anyone that tried to beat Il Drago by natural means failed. Candice laid awake all night and began her day in a murderous rage. Most everyone else was only really angry. The Dutchman swore to never enter the same albergue as Il Drago for the rest of the Camino.
Il Drago was known to bring out the worst in the Camino. He would prove to continue to do that.
Day 18: Terradillos de los Templarios – Calzadilla de los Hermanillos
Distance: 23.5 km
Again on the road less traveled and another flat piece of Spain. The weather had been great for several days. It made us forget that we were walking in spring. The rain in Spain does not mainly fall on the plain in our singular experience.
With 8 km to go we took the side route. It added a few km to the route, but it was on a Roman road, meaning it had been around for 2000 years. It is not a current road used for cars.
We did not see a single person the entire afternoon. It did make it a little odd to enter the albergue knowing we were the only people in town and probably the only pilgrims that would be.
As luck would have it though, the tall Dutchman was back and showed up at our place. In only a couple of days, he had managed to put together a fairy tale about a character called the snorecatcher that sneaks around to all the albergues on the Camino and catches the snorers and locks them away so all the other pilgrims can get some sleep.
It sounds like a ridiculous story, but it managed to resonate with four grown adults who were tired of hearing a cacophony of snoring each and every night on the Camino.
FYI, if you snore on the Camino, you will be found out, you will be talked about, and you will be judged harshly.
As he finished his story, we all laughed and told him none of us snored so it should be a peaceful night. However, there was a traitor in our midst.
After another dinner, this time a pasta in red sauce with tomatoes, from Rachele (The Southern Sardinian Darling) we learned to play an Italian card game, Panella. I also continued to learn more Italian words and phrases. Most are not fit for print, but they are fun to say. When I come back home, I can wow each of you with my inappropriateness in a second language.
So as we headed to bed, all was quiet. Suddenly I was awoken by a terrible sound. The Canadian. Snoring. We had no idea. She did and she failed to spill the beans. I rustled her to let her know she was trying to kill us, and she moved into a different cube of beds so we could get back to what we needed – sleep.
Day 19: Calzadilla de los Hermanillos – Mansilla de las Mulas
Distance: 26.7 km
We awoke to an unhappy Dutchman. He had also been awoken by the snoring and had worked out who it was. We apologized profusely at our blunder and betrayal of his trust. It was a good thing too because on the walk that day we did not see another single person apart from our group and the Dutchman.
I finally decided to listen to some music on the Camino. I had been walking silently or talking the entire time and thought I would try some tunes. Spotify worked and I enjoyed the Sheepdogs, Houndmouth, and the Benjy Davis project for most of the day.
Our alternate routes continued to provide great views along the way.
After arriving to our albergue, we decided it was time for the Americans to cook. After a few discussions with Elizabeth about the menu, we settled on hamburgers. It was a departure from the Italian we had been enjoying, but I thought it would be nice for someone else to cook.
Our Northern Sardinian had been walking with Il Drago on the main route the last couple of days due to a back issue. As the trails converged here, she met back up with us, and we began to devise our plan for the next night.
For about a week, we had been throwing the idea around of trying to cook lasagna and for dessert tiramisu. No small feat on the Camino. You need time, space in a kitchen, a large city to provide the ingredients for the meal, and most important, an oven.
We conceived our plan. The meal was to take place in León, one of the largest cities on the Camino. We would get an Airbnb and ensure it had an oven. As an added bonus, we would each have our own room away from the mass of pilgrims in the albergues.
It’s a wonder any of us slept in Mansilla as excited as we were for the following day and our Lasagna Party.
Day 20: Mansilla de las Mulas – León
Distance: 18.6 km
We arrived into León later than we wanted but that had become a theme. Everyone starts getting up and going at around 7 when they start the Camino. The albergues tell the pilgrims to be out by 8 or 8:30. The albergues are often vigilant about these policies. We had been pushing them to the brink. We hadn’t been thrown out yet, but we were getting closer to 9 than we wanted.
Upon arriving in León, another lovely, mostly flat walk under our belts, we found or Airbnb. We each left to walk around the city before meeting back to go grocery shopping.
Elizabeth and I strolled through the city and made our way to the cathedral. The cathedral had an interesting story and nice stained glass windows.
Once we met up with the team, we headed to the grocery store to buy provisions. After five different stops at grocery stores, we finally had everything we needed. The most difficult ingredient to procure? A lasagna pan. We had all our foodstuffs after a store or two. Getting a pan was complicated.
We were presented with two options. Spend fifteen bucks on two large sheetpans that we would only use once and then have to carry on the outside of a backpack for another two weeks or leave behind. Or ask a grocery store if we could have some single serving disposable aluminum pans. We went the disposable route and then spent several minutes breaking every piece of lasagna noodle so it could fit into the single serves.
Now some of you have probably only eaten lasagna out or had stouffers from your local grocers’ freezer. Some other intrepid souls have made it at your house with varying degrees of success. I have made it a time or two and enjoyed it each time.
The trick though is to know what ingredients to use. I won’t indict myself too much, but I will admit I used garlic and onions in my lasagna. When I explained what went in my lasagna, a recipe I pulled off the internet and probably had the words “authentic” and “Italian” in it, the two Sardinians gave me a look. It was a look as if I had said the dumbest thing to ever escape a human’s mouth.
Of course, when the Northern Sardinian told Rachele that her family uses mozzarella in their lasagna, The Southerner gave the Northerner the same look.
Traditional recipes seem to die hard among Italians.
So our lasagna did not have mozzerella or garlic.I don’t even think we used onions. Instead a lot of cheese, we used bechamel and a cheese similar to parmesan. No sausage, just plain ole ground beef. The tomato sauce was relatively thin and contained carrots.
We also had tiramisu to accompany the lasagna. It was easier to make and put in a large metal pot as there was no pyrex floating around the apartment.
With the lasagna made, in twelve individual serving trays and the tiramisu ready to be eaten, we began the meal. The lasagna was wonderful. Even more special considering all the work it had taken to organize the single night.
The Canadian booked the apartment. The Northern Sardinian oversaw the tiramisu. Rachele oversaw the lasagna. Elizabeth and I helped in the kitchen and cleaning when possible.
I would not have guessed that we would meet people on the Camino and decide to spend a night in the above fashion. The night would be difficult top.
cornetravel 
Well, having read this tale I have confirmed I will never be allowed to walk the Camino. I would be treated as a leper, a snoring leper, but a leper none the less. I can hardly wait to taste your lasagna. We love y’all so much.
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I am now caught up on your travels that have been posted. Love, love ready about your adventures that I would never ever do. Some pictures didn’t show but I will catch them when y’all get home. The ones that did show are awesome as your travels are. God Bless and be safe! Love y’all, Aunt Peggy
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Wonderful post! I know very little about the Camino but now having read about your adventures I have a mad thirst to know all about it. Thanks! Happy and safe travels. g.
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