La Mudarra/Villanubla to Medina de Rioseco (15.32 miles / 24.68 kms)

Today started off as a good day. I had a great day of rest and a good night’s sleep.

I had considered where I would start back on the Camino again and decided not to go back to Villanubla because I would be walking back almost seven miles to Wamba and I didn’t want to backtrack. Instead I decided to start fairly close where I stopped walking in Villanubla, which is next to the major airport and would require me to walk around it. Instead I started just north of there in La Mudarra. The total mileage that I walked to Villanubla, and then starting in La Mudarra is actual more than if I had not gotten lost and stayed on the Camino.

La Mudarra is just a tiny farming village and the road where I started was a nice quiet two lane country road, with a wide shoulder and very little traffic. It is flat farm land dotted with large wind turbines. It must be an area of high winds but it was calm and a beautiful day.

It was about five miles to Castromonte and the Camino. Just as I got into town traffic was stopped waiting for a herd, flock, drove, of sheep running across the road and there must have been hundreds because it took a few minutes. Technically it could be called a mob. Really!

Later throughout the day I saw several large herds with a shepherd and one to three dogs. I stopped and watched a large herd on an open field that was not planted and all around were green fields of wheat or barley, and I saw the dogs keeping the sheep together and away from those other fields. It was a fun and interesting thing to see.

By the time I got to Castromonte I was thirsty and thought I’d stop in the local bar for a drink, orange juice that is. And sure enough I felt like that stranger in the western movies coming into town. Three guys bellied up to the bar, and drinking some kind of alcohol, talking and laughing, and here comes the stranger pulling his Wheelie up to the open door. Then silence and the stares. I bellied up to the bar too and ordered a zumo de naranja (orange juice). That didn’t break the tension but only made them talk softly among themselves. Apparently this is not the pilgrim’s bar because actually ninety-nine percent of the time people in the bars are very friendly, but I guess a bar where people actually drink alcohol at ten in the morning is a little different.

My feet had felt fairly good walking to Castromonte but the large blister on the ball of my felt foot started becoming a little sore again. I have been a little hard on myself because I got the blisters, because I didn’t have any on the previous and longer Caminos. Well, I think I figured out why I got those blisters on my left foot and not any on my right foot by watching my shadow on the ground in front of me. I noticed that I did not have a smooth gait or stride when I stepped with my left foot, and yet I did with my right foot. My knee left knee has not really bothered me other than at the end of a few long days when it was a little stiff and in the morning after those long days, but no real pain. However, I walked with a limp for over a year, and even after the surgery had a bit of a limp, and favored my right leg. I also had to learn and remember in therapy to walk naturally heel to toe, which I realized I wasn’t completely doing! I had been, and still do, land flat footed with my left foot. It’s like a car tire that’s out of balance, or a wheel out of alignment, which causes the tire to wear irregularly and faster. It makes sense to me and I will try and be more conscious about how I walk.

The Camino was fairly level all day except for a few small hills. It went through mostly farm land and gentle rolling hills. It being spring there were flowers everywhere and mainly poppies very similar to the California poppy except a darker orange.

Some people have mentioned that this section of the Camino can be a little monotonous, but maybe because it’s spring, and green and with flowers, I find it beautiful. Sometimes it reminds me so much of California until I see the remains of an old wall or building that’s probably hundreds of years old.

I came to the other small village of Valverde de Campos and made it a point to walk through because it was so small it interested me. The area is obviously sheep country because they are everywhere and obviously through the streets. I stopped at the City Hall, if you could call it that as it’s just a tiny building with three flags and a mail box. I stopped and casually asked a friendly man inside stamp if he could stamp my passport and he did. You never know.

Medina de Rioseco was just a few miles further and just before entering the town the Camino moved off and away from the highway. I had seen an yellow arrow and an A, usually meaning albergue, indicating that the albergue was on the highway. Once I hit into town for some reason my Camino Google phone app quit working and I couldn’t locate the albergue. I tried calling the number but it didn’t connect, so I had no option but to look for a hotel and I ended up at Hostal Dugue de Osuna. As I mentioned, I prefer stay at nice albergues because it gives me more of the Camino experience, but a hotel or hostal is always good too. A hotel is a nicer place such as the one I stayed at last night, and a hostal is less luxurious like a motel.

The room was fairly nice, and pretty reasonable at €20. It had sheets and towels, which you don’t get at albergues. Having a towel is a luxury compared to the fleece ones most pilgrims carry to save weight.

This is another town with a beautiful old plaza mayor, or old city center. There are three beautiful large churches, one noted as being the most beautiful inside of the churches in this area of Spain. I had a chance to walk around and it amazes me the streets and homes are hundreds of years old and still in uses.

I went to the grocery store hungry, which was a mistake. I bought enough food to last me two or three days. I bought so much that I decided to stay in and eat what I had bought or it would spoil. I have been conditioned to buy food whenever I can because the sacristy of restaurants and stores on the Camino de Madrid. That will all change once I am on the Camino Francis as there are generally restaurants and stores every three or four miles.

Tomorrow I will either stop at Cuenca de Campos or Villalon de Campos. Both have albergues and are twelve to fifteen miles away.

As always, please excuse the typos, grammar, and spelling, etc., because I am writing this on my phone and don’t always review it.

Best wishes to all

Ted

Starting my morning heading to Castromonte.

Back on the Camino.

The alberque in Castromonte.

Castromonte. All the village squares look alike.

Stopped to wrap my left foot. What a mess, but it looks worse than it is, just preventative. Might be caused by my awkward way of walking with my new knee. I think?

Valverde.

Valverde plaza mayor.

Can you tell they run the sheep through the streets?

Poppies everywhere.

Finally made it here.

One of three old church in town.

Another right next door. For a country with so many churches, statistics actual show religion in Spain is waining.

The shopping plaza. A half hour later it was packed. Sure beats the mall.

This little boy was so excited to play drums for me and I applauded him. An hour later I saw him in the store and he started playing for me again. Cute!

My home for the night.

Simple, but for €20, not bad. One of the beauties of the Camino is that it is not expensive as the Spanish cater to the pilgrims.

Green reminds me of my first house I rented as a young man.