Camino Day 22: Carrion de los Condes to Terradillos de los Templarios

Date: April 22nd, 2022

Distance: 26.6km/16.5miles

Time: 7 hours (8:00am-3:00pm)

You know it’s gonna be an interesting day when the British guy in the room turns on the lights promptly at 7am and awakens your friends by singing loudly.

Chris and I set off into the rain after a coffee. Today was a rough one, folks. Rainy. Cold. Windy. The first stint was 17km, with no stops except for an A-frame shelter which pilgrims huddled under for a couple minutes before going back out. I put my gloves away when we got to the shelter because they were soaked. Or as the Chinese man in jeans so eloquently put it, “so much wet.”

It got progressively rainier, colder, windier, miserable-r as the morning went on.

How do you pass the time on such a miserable day? You ask all the questions. Stupid questions, silly questions, deep questions. If you could be a shape, what would you be? Favorite childhood memory? Superpower? If you could fill a swimming pool with something, what would you fill it with?

By the time we arrived to the first town/restaurant, most of my garments were soaked. Both pairs of socks. Both layers of pants. Scarf. My waterproof jacket, which I found out today was definitely not waterproof. (Thank you again, plastic raincover, for always being there.) I could barely pick up my beer and slice of pizza because my hands were so numb. We tried to dry off and warm ourselves up, which was pointless since we’d be heading right back out.

It’s a terrible feeling being cold and wet and worse knowing you have 10km more to go in the rain.

But you keep on keeping on. And eventually the rain stops. And when you get to the next town, a very sweet Spanish man welcomes you to his restaurant with free, hot soup and a tortilla. And you drink another beer and you keep talking.

And finally. FINALLY you arrive and strip off wet layers. Wet socks. Put the legs up the wall. Take a hot shower. Eat meat and cheese and crackers on the bed. And it’s these little things that are just so heavenly.

Downstairs, tables are pushed together so that everyone can be close. Stories from the day are shared. Etiquette out the window. We examine each others feet at the dinner table. We cheers to our blisters and getting through shitty days. I have to decide if I want to cheers with beer or my tea because yes, we’re drinking both at the same time. Because this is the Camino.

Cheers to you for reading.