Day 24: Salamanca to Calzada de Valdunciel

Having a shorter day interspersed among the other days is a great advantage and helps recuperation. So today was the third shortest day so far of the Camino, at 16.8km. So the day started slowly. There was no rush to make headway. 

And so, after a very good night's rest, a 'breakfast of kings', consisting of cured Iberic ham on toast and a strong coffee, we mooched around the town a little seeing some of the key sights: the Cathedral, the Pontifical University where I studied for two years, and the Plaza Mayor once again. Then bag packing, buying a stick (I've felt the need for something to help with streams and hills), and concelebrating Mass at the Church of San Juan de Sahagún, before starting off once again on the Camino. 

The route out of town was typically prosaic, compared to the poetry of architecture and culture at the heart of the city. Passing the bullring, we were soon out of town, following the main Zamora road for the best part of the first section of today's walk, as far as Aldeaseca de la Armuña. Being a Monday, neither of the bars were open, but the little supermarket shop was, so buying a drink was no problem, and sitting outside the shop in the warmth of the sun was no hardship. 

The next section was following wide farm track to the village of Castellanos de Villiquera. The village could be seen from afar but took my daily twenty decades of the Rosary to arrive at. I had prepared myself for the disappointment of another closed bar, but it was not to be so. Indeed, the Bar Capricho was more than adequate to provide a pincho of tortilla española, some chorizo, water and coffee. The clientele were entirely male and there was not one customer who didn't have an alcoholic drink. I'm not talking wine or beer. Maybe that's what it takes to live in some of these villages!

The last part of the journey was a gentle hour-long wander to the village of Calzada del Valdunciel. It's a tidy village with a very interesting church. We are staying at the Casa del Molinero, the Miller's house, renovated and owned by the very engaging and helpful Óscar. I'm also very grateful to Óscar's mother for doing my washing this evening too! There are lots of kind people on the Camino! Finally dinner at the restaurant attached to a truck stop just out of the village saw us share a dining room with a dozen or so truckers. As the owner said on our arrival: truckers and pilgrims are our people.