Stories from Carrion I

Len/Dad/Grampa passed through Carrion on Day 20 (April 22). This story will be followed shortly by Stories from Carrion II, and later (in theory) Stories from Carrion III.

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Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 1:35 PM EST

City of Leon, Province of Leon, Comunidad od Castilla y Leon 08 04 28 11:22

Un peregrino a Caballo

Earlier I told you about the Monasterio of Santa Clara in the town of Carrion de los Condes.

Shortly after checking into the Monasterio, I decided that I needed to go into town to do a few errands. I wanted to visit a Farmacia to pick up a few foot bandages (a common theme). I knew that the next day I would be walking a 17 km section with no towns, no villages and no services so I wanted to visit a grocery store so as to have a bit of food with me. I don’t eat much during the day but it is important to have a bit of food with you. I always carry a litre of water also. And I wanted to find an internet cafe to do my messages, check out restaurantes both for supper and for breakfast the next morning, and to check out the bank machines so I could top up my cash supply. I prefer to do that in the larger centres.

So I set off into the Town of Carrion. Since I had started the camino, I had seen quite a few people on bicycles but no one on horseback and I had reached the conclusion that few if anyone traveled the way these days on horseback. But I was about to be proven wrong.

A few years ago, a family led a hinney (a female mule) carrying their belongings across Roncesvalles Pass and on to Santiago, and a man by the name of Tim Moore published a book entitled Spanish Step: A Man and his Ass on the Road to Santiago. But I had seen no one with horse, ass or mule. Just outside of the town of Torres del Rio, I had seen a somewhat dilapidated Estables that was associated with the alburgue at which I had stayed Casa Mari, but no live animals.

I had walked into Carrion and was standing at a small Il Turismo office that was closed because it was only open in the summer (but there was still some useful information there), when I hear behind me the characteristic clip-clopping of a steel shod horse. I turned around and there was a man leading a horse into town. And he stops and asks me in Spanish for directions. Well I had been in Carrion for all of 10 minutes and did not know anything. So I had to say Lo siento, no se (Sorry I do not know). So he thanks me and leads his horse clip-clopping off to ask someone else.
Len"