Ledigos is a very, very small pueblo. I would guess the population to be about 30. The Albergue I stayed in last night was the pueblos bar/restaurant and market. The "market" was a room off the bar containing the bar supplies and a few things to buy. I got a banana, two large bottles of water, and a yogurt that had not been refrigerated. There was a whole bunch of them in different flavors that had not been refrigerated. That may be ok, I don't actually know, but I wasn't going to try it. So I had a banana and a granola bar, which I had in my stash, for breakfast. The Albergue was another converted barn. I believe the room we slept in had been the goat or sheep pen. They had a swimming pool, but not green grass like Boadilla.
They served a Pilgrim's menu for dinner, thank goodness because there was no where else to eat. Dinner was yummy. There was a noodle soup and then pork chops and french fries. The pork chops were American style, not thin slices of pork which is normal in Spain. They were very good. Dessert was an ice cream bar, vanilla with chocolate outside. I shared the dinner table with Roberto, an Italian who lives in Milan and works in IT. He spoke some English. He asked me about our elections. Oh boy. You know most of the Europeans are aware that we have an election coming up. How many of us Americans, including me, know when any European country has an election? In Europe they actually report news from other countries, and not just in the sense of how that news affects their country.
This morning I went through Terradillosde Los Templarios one of the towns of the medieval Knights Templar. The Medieval Knights Templar owed their allegiance to the Pope and wore white mantles with red crosses Their original job was to protect the Pilgrims to the Holy Land. Later they became cought crusades on Spain and protected the Pilgrims going to Santiago. One of their strongholds along the Camino was in Terradillos de los Templarios. Nothing they built here remains today. Another was in Ponferrada where their castle, built in the 12th century still stands today. We will come to that in another week or so. They also were involved in a few Crusades on behalf of the Pope, including Reconquista. They also built financial systems that we're an early form of banking. They eventually got too much money and power. A French King (Phil number 4) was owed them a lot of money so he managed to have a number of them arrested, tortured for false confessions (funny how some things don't change,) and burnt at the stake. He then pressured the Pope to disband the Order.
After that Pueblo I came to a really nice Albergue with a bar run by an Austrian woman. I had a café con leche and bought two yummy looking nut bars, one sesame and one cashew, for my stash. I walked some more and then stopped at a bar in San Nicolás del Real Camino and had a diet coke and watched some news. Then I finished my journey into Sahagún. I found the Convent Albergue and checked in. I got here early so I decided to find a Farmácia before everything closes. It's Sunday in Spain. After the farmácia I had a lovely ensalada mixta for lunch. I returned to the Albergue to find I have three roommates, all male. Never in my wildest dreams or even drug induced hallucinations did I ever imagine myself sleeping with three men in a convent. lol Barns and convents seem to be the theme lately.
In the picture there you all are my friends, cheering me on, sending love.
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