Itero de la Vega

I was on the trail a little after 7 this morning, knowing I had a full days walk, and wanting to make some stops. The first were some ruins about an hour down the trail. And indeed those which were there looked very neat, and made some neat photos (I hope) but there wasn't a lot there, so I wasn't delayed much, and kept on going.
We were heading toward a town called Castrojeriz, which means Jeriz's castle, and you could see the ruins of this castle, at the top of a high hill, from far off. It must of really been something in its day. Thankfully we didn't head up there but to the village in the valley at the bottom. There is an active monastery of Franciscan sisters just a half kilometer off the Camino, so I decided to visit hoping to see the church. Unfortunately the sisters were at Mass, and everything else was closed up. They must sell cookies, but the 'store' wouldn't open for 20 minutes, and I didn't wait, even for cookies. When I got into town and stopped at the first Cafe, lo and behold, there were monastery cookies on the counter, so of course I had to support the sisters.
The churches were disappointing. The first was closed, though I knew it and the third one were already made into museums. The second church, the parish church, was being repaired/restored, and the other museum was also locked up tight. So Castrojeriz is disappointing for seeing the inside of the historical monuments.  Again I wasn't delayed much and just kept going.
Unfortunately my joy at not having to climb up to the castle, was displaced by the dismay of the wonderful vista that opened up before us with the trail heading up the side of the Meseta. It was only about a 300 foot climb, but strenuous is a good description for it. We were rewarded for the climb with some really wonderful vistas of the land all around us. It was really flat up top with fields of wheat and barley stretching off in all directions. Unfortunately, what goes up must come down, and there was an even steeper descent. Thankfully I'm not having any troubles with my feet and going down hasn't been a problem.
There was more generally just flat farmland in all directions. Besides wheat and barley, we saw fields of alfalfa, and some of sugar beets, the white ones.
By noon time the trail seemed to never end, and it was almost 1:30 by the time this hostel came into view. Since my app had me staying at this hostel, I didn't check any others, but this one, the first one you come to when you come into town, is full up, 20 in the dorm, while the others further in town seem practically empty. Oh well, I won't oversleep in the morning.
Did I mention that after a cool but sunny morning it was a warm, almost hot day!
Later that afternoon as I was out exploring the town, one of the local men, a retired school teacher, said hello, then got excited when I answered in English and said I was from the U.S. Seems he was talking an English course and wanted to talk English and as it turned out help with his homework! So we looked over his assignment and then he showed me his house, which was his summer home. It is basically stone, perhaps 200 years old. It has a heating system designed by the Romans consisting of space under the floor in which they build a fire of straw and wood. That warm floor heats the house. Then he wanted to show me his orchard, so we walked to the edge of town were he had a small orchard, mostly with almond trees (he also gave me a bag of almonds, had to crack the hulls, but great almonds). There were also cherry, apple, pear, plum, walnut (certainly not black Walnut like we have, must of been English), persimmon, and one we could never agree on an English translation. So it was definitely nice to talk to a local person who could answer questions and explain things like the difference between wheat and barley.
May God's blessing be upon you all, tonight and always.