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"Si, si senora" I nodded my head enthusiastically at the butcher, pleased to be conversing with her in Spanish about something as controversial and linguistically challenging as nuclear waste dumps.
It helped that there was a Greenpeace poster on the wall of her shop, which I'd pointed to when starting the conversation, but I was concerned that a quaint medieval village like Castrojeriz would even be considered as a dump site.
To my dismay the butcher appeared to welcome the possibility, saying that 8 villages were competing for the honour, with a grand final on 14 August to decide the winner.
Misinterpreting my bewilderment at her enthusiasm for a nuclear waste dump as confusion about the grand final date, she came round from the counter and jabbed her finger at the date on the poster. It was the poster adjacent to the Greenpeace poster, the poster advertising the Under 17 football competition!
Language problems aside, the province of Castillo y Leon (Spain's largest) proved to be a fascinating place to visit. Not only for the high plateau and mountainous scenery but also for the rich history of the place, evident in the Roman and medieval architecture, the latter dominated by church buildings.
It is impossible to ignore the influence of the Roman Catholicism on Spain and in this part of the country the grip of the church must have been absolute. The province is crossed east to west by one of Christianity's holiest pilgrimage routes, the Way of St James or Camino Way, which starts in France and ends at Santiago de Compostela, a distance of over 800 kilometres.
When we arrived in the little campsite at Castrojeriz we were unaware of the Camino Way and wondered why so many backpackers and cyclists were passing through the village heading west. We also wondered why there were so many refuges for Peregrinos, were Peregrine Falcons critically endangered here, a shame in an area that was particularly noted for raptors?
Predictably our Spanish was shot away again, peregrinos is Spanish for pilgrim and for over 1000 years villages like Castrojeriz have been providing food, water and shelter for travellers following the route.
Evidence of the spiritual sustenance offered to the pilgrims is everywhere, despite a population of 350 (and declining) Castrojeriz has 3 huge churches, a church school, a monastery and a convent, with several ruined monasteries and churches in a 5 km radius. Ironically the Camino Way is more popular now than it ever was, some 300,000 people a year walk, cycle or ride the route.
As Angela and I dusted off the walking boots and donned our backpacks to stretch our legs through the village, locals wished us a "good Camino", little realising that our objective was the nearby café bar and our start point was a 6 berth motorhome 500 metres down the lane.
We ended up staying in Castrojeriz for over a week, enticed by the friendliness of the locals and the lure of the upcoming Ajo (Garlic) Festival. The latter consisted of a market where (you've guessed it) garlic was the main, in fact only, item on sale. For 5 Euros we could have bought enough garlic to keep Dracula in his coffin for the next century.
To be fair there was also a fiesta, featuring (you are ahead of me!) a garlic bulb tying contest with prizes presented by Miss Ajo Castrojeriz who, judging by her attitude, had just realised that the title was not a stepping stone to Grande Brother Espana.
Generously there was a free dinner for all fiesta attendees, volunteer's cooked big cauldrons of. …garlic soup followed by barbecued chicken, stuffed with…. garlic. Sadly Castrojeriz appeared to have been re-populated overnight so the queue was halfway back to the Pyrenees by the time we realised what was happening.
We fortified ourselves instead with barbecued morcilla (black pudding, a local specialty) and complimentary red wine (possibly made from garlic judging by the taste) and waited for the live music to start. This being Spain, the band didn't set up until midnight.
By 2am we'd exhausted our flamenco/latino repertoire (1 step, ouch, 2 step, toe step, 3 step, who's leading? 4 step, mind my cojones please, 5 step, can I have my shoe back from your armpit? 6 step, watch that paving slab) and decided to retire to bed whilst the locals were still impressed. We dodged through the mass of under 5s on the dance floor and limped back to the motorhome exhausted, it's hard being a peregrino!
- comments
Lyn Sounds like you're having a ball! We are off back to the Wild Coast after all these years...... back on a 4x4 trip from Lusikisiki on 8th September so will be thinking of you! Keep us posted and have a ball. Love. xxx
Stu 'n Tru Ponferridada que muchos vilalba. Tandersan e tarbes longrono de narces. (Thanks Ralph for the undercover pics of the grande mammarias - how you managed those without Ayoba Ang noticing I really do not want to imagine.)
Brian Wridgway Sounds like you are having loads of fun and in more comfort than your African adventures. Lindy and I will soon be on our way to Kruger for a 2 week stint starting at Punda Maria and working our way suthwards.
Ralph & Angela Hi Brian Thanks for comments. Much more comfort but we do miss the wildlife. One plus is that camping here is often free of charge, staying in municipal car parks (aires) which provide a water tap and a sluice for the toilet emptying. Enjoy your Kruger trip
Ralph & Angela Hi Stu & Tru Please send photos back, I haven't seen them yet! Did you need help for the Spanish trickery, must of been Trudi's brain at work there. Thought for the day Stu "Al subir por la mente de su alambre de púas cojones"
Ralph & Angela Hi Lyn We are having a ball, but would love to be back for that Wild Coast trip. It's a few years now since we did that first trip. Hope all well in Cape Town
Heike Evans Sounds like fun ! Good to hear from you again. Ricki-Leigh and I are on our way to Germany next week - for a short family visit . Ricki is then going on to Valencia for a few days. SHe loved her short visit to Spain last year - and thougt she would make good use of being in Europe anyway. Hope the weather will be good. All the best - Heike
Ralph Hi Heike Thanks for update, I guess you will be back by now! Hoping to get up to Germany next summer after Norway & Sweden. Hope all well in the Cape Ralph