Constance’s Camino 3
Sahagun
While walking the Camino, we stayed in various hostels or albergues…some were private, some municipal and some parochial. Here Constance is resting outside the Albergue at Sahagun, which was built inside an old church. One half was turned into a Theatre…
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under the arches
…and the other half had bunks crowded into a mezzanine floor built right up under the rafters.
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Poor Clares
We stayed at this little nunnery in Carrion del los Condes. The dormitories were very clean and quiet, though the tiny sagging beds were in what was probably a dormitory originally meant for little girls (Constance thought they were perfect!).
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Hobbits?
We did not check out these hobbit holes, though was tempting – were they root cellars? Wine cellars? Smoke houses?
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Santo Domingo
Santo Domingo de la Calzada had a lovely brand new Pilgrim hostel, with warm showers (!), cooking facilities, and lots of maps, books and fellow pilgrims to talk with…
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Chickens!
…but Hitty Constance thought the best thing about the town was the Chicken Cathedral (built to commemorate a miracle involving roasted chickens coming alive and proving the innocence of a falsely accused pilgrim). The Cathedral houses a pair of live chickens in the lighted cage above Constance’s head!
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Santo Domingo
She tried to get the attention of the wooden ladies in the beautifully carved choir stalls, but they seemed preoccupied, and she wasn’t allowed to get very close.
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Frómista
We saw many glorious churches, with golden altars and ornate decorations inside, but our favourite was little San Martín de Tours de Frómista, built in the 11th Century.
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road
…and the road goes on…
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We were about half way at this point, on a wide flat meseta…we woke up every day, lifted up the backpacks, and walked some more footsteps, encountered more experiences and every day made our journey closer to the delectable mountains!
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As you two continued on this journey (today, in your blog), I am quite amazed at this type of journey. I would like to know more of the why of such a pilgrimage
I had heard of the pilgrim way and was intrigued. Then my oldest child heard some music “Camino” by Oliver Schroer, was inspired by it and suggested we walk the route together…so we did. I liked the idea of treading in the footsteps of thousands of people who had walked the Camino in hope…we each learned things we didn’t know we needed to know!
This is so amazing. You must have been in tiptop physical shape to be able to do this pilgrimage. The photos are serene and old world from today. I am drinking in each and every photo with it’s unique story.
P.S. I noticed immediately the wee little bunks and thought of a Dr. Seuss poem .My three year old great niece laughs and laughs at this book.
Who am I? My name is Ned
I do not like my little bed.
This is no good. This is not right.
My feet stick out of bed all night.
And when I pull them in, Oh, Dear!
My head sticks out of bed up here!
I have always liked walking places – I did a 10 k hike when I was three years old! But in this case, I had been participating in “aqua fit” classes for a year or so before we started, which I am sure contributed to my core strength, other than that I didn’t do anything in particular ahead of time, other than make sure I had good boots and equipment…yes, the little beds were a bit like that funny poem!
Your photos make my heart sing! Thank you thank you! Such beauty, and I love the whimsy of the lovingkindness given to the chickens…’All Creatures Great and Small’….. such delights….. 😀
It is interesting to see an entire cathedral built around the story in gratitude to the chickens! The town was full of pastries with two icing chickens on top too, which were very tasty!
fascinating! What are the tools hanging on the wall behind Constance in the Chicken Cathedral? They look like instruments of torture!
I am not completely sure what the tools are – but Santo Domingo was involved in many miraculous incidents, perhaps they pertain to those…none of which involved torture. I really don’t know though, I don’t remember there being a label!
Of course Marie Claire was fascinated by the Chicken Cathredal!! I was rather amazed at the photo of those tiny bunk beds! Love all the wonderful photos and the commentary.
Marie Claire would smile I am sure!!! The bunks in the photo were in the Sahagun Albergue, and regular people size…The poor Claire nunnery was the night before in Carrion de los Condes, I don’t have a picture of those beds, but they were small!