Day 12: San Bol – Boadillo del Camino:  20.75 miles

Wednesday,  September 21, 2016:  Departed:  6:45am,  Arrived 3:30pm

img_4395 Everyone after the community dinner in San Bol went to bed fairly early, such that all was quiet and lights out at 10pm, so that waking up before sunrise seemed quite natural.  Kim and I were out the door early, and commenced walking under the light of a bright half moon, until the sun rose around an hour later.  We’ve entered the central dry plains of Spain, and today was the first day in a while where we had a solid day of clear skies for the whole day.  It was cool, but sunny to the point of feeling hot.  We made short breakfast and lunch stops in towns: San Antón, Castrojeriz, and Itero de la Vega.  Like the day before, the scenery, while beautiful in its agricultural openness, was not particularly note-worthy.    I listened to my headphones for a good bit of the day, playing movie soundtracks to add a sense of the dramatic to the surroundings.  I don’t know if we’re just getting used to the scenery and it no longer impresses us, but I’m pretty sure the recent villages have distinctly less charm and appeal than the initial ones we passed through in Basque country.

img_4405After a good day of walking, we settled on our lodging at “En El Camino” Albergue.  Just as all the places we stay are a surprise in their uniqueness, this one feels more like a “backpacker” hostel than most of the other places we’ve been.  Its dorms are crowded, but more space is devoted to lounge and bar areas that are cleverly decorated, including a little pool and garden courtyard which all are enjoying.  The crowd is younger.  The staff is also young are very active and efficient, and their pilgrim’s menu is the best we’ve had so far.  Yet, it is still a pilgrim albergue, as the surrounding town is dull and there is no reason why anyone else would visit here other than walking the Camino, and they still close the doors at 10pm, so I suspect we’ll all be going to be shortly, and it will be another early morning tomorrow.  Let’s hope we sleep well, and that there are no snorers as we’ve encountered in the other albergues, but the odds are there certainly will be, with the number of people in our dorm.  I’ll keep my earplugs nearby on the ready.