Day 13….and I’m quite superstitious!!!
Vilamayor del Río to Villafranca Montes de Oca
It had been a fairly peaceful night in the albergue as I believe there were only five of us peregrinos staying there. I’m happy to say that I felt completely revived healthwise, after the problems the day before. Once again we were treated to a promisingly bright and sunny morning. The first part of the walk took us to Belorado, without any incident, which is where we both stopped for the classic peregrino breakfast. Dan had a passion, shared with a number of other peregrinos I met, for acquiring stamps (sellos) to adorn his credencial. So after the breakfast we entered the iglesia Santa María in search of Day 13’s first sello. It was directly opposite the cafe.
Walking back to rejoin the Camino. Somewhere to the right, I believe! 
Dan’s insatiable appetite for sellos showed no sign of diminishing. 
Belorado. Iglesia Santa María All very nice.
The stamp was duly obtained by both of us and after a brief look around the iglesia’s impressive interior we moved on. The whole experience so far on this Camino had been one of excellent weather ( too hot for some) but speaking personally I’d much prefer to be combatting the sun than combatting the rain that we Brits are all too often blighted by back in the UK. There had been just one morning of serious rain in the last thirteen days.
The Camino leaving Belorado
The walking was quite straightforward at this stage. There was a slight gain in height after leaving Belorado but at a gentle gradient.
Tosantos – Ermita de la Virgen de la Peña
The definite highlight at the next habitation of Tosantos is the Ermita pictured above. Etched into the very fabric of the landscape it is a striking object visually. But despite this it was only Dan that took the time to wander over to visit it. I awaited him seated in the shade of a farm building further along the track of the Camino, from where I took the photo above. Dan was gone for around 20 minutes. Once he returned we continued ever westwards. In the next habitation of Villambistia we paused for another refreshment break. Quite a long pause, if truth be told!!
Villambistia:The House of Dreams 
Villambistia:Late morning break with the peregrino’s ever faithful Brierley guide close by.
After the refreshment break we pressed onwards along the Camino as it threaded its way through a vast open landscape of rolling hills. The sun shone down strongly out of an almost cloudless blue sky. For me it was pretty well ideal. For Dan maybe less so, given his self declared dislike of glaring sunshine. Such is life!
Villambistia:The iglesia. 
En route to Villafranca Montes de Oca
This little ruin pictured below is all that is left of the 9th century Monasterio de San Felix de Oca. Over 1200 years old. That’s quite ancient even for us Brits. It’s interesting to ponder on why it is just the doorway that has survived the ravages of time.
Not too far from the point where these two shots were taken lies the objective of today’s walk:- Villafranca de Montes de Oca. The albergue was very obvious, strategically. We arrived at around 14:00. The building housing the albergue also has a considerable history behind it – apparently a 14th century pilgrim’s hospital. It is however one of those albergues that has been thoroughly renovated, to the extent that you enter into a quite elegant Reception area, where we were attended by two well-dressed, pleasant-mannered and very professional ladies. In fact it was, up until this point in time, the most ‘upmarket’ entrada to any of the albergues that I’d stayed in so far. Later we found out that the quite large building is divided into the usual peregrino dormitories and private hotel style rooms in a separate section costing upward of €60 per night. Of course we were housed in the ‘usual’ quarters, but the facilities were very good. So after washing ourselves and some of the clothes we could take advantage of the comfortable surroundings, Dan in the shade, myself in the dappled sunlight.
We venture out in search of the village shop. 
The ‘main’ road – a rare quiet moment. 
The front aspect of tonight’s albergue. 
The iglesia. Constructed in the 18th century. So relatively modern by Camino standards.
Brierley’s guide mentions that this village is the last chance to stock up on food and water before the next habitation of any size that we will pass through on tomorrow’s stage of the journey. So we headed off to find the ‘shop’ (la tienda). However we found that between the albergue and this shop there is a stretch of three to four metres where the noisy N-120 road squeezes through the gap between the corner of the albergue and the trees by the church which means you have to choose a safe moment to dash along the almost non-existent pavement at that point. The lorries rattle through with little regard for the integrity of the village’s buildings, nor for that of pedestrians, it would seem. But the cardinally important mission of procuring essential supplies for tomorrow was safely accomplished eventually.
San Anton Abad: Very respectable!!!Despite Dan’s imported contraband!
After the return to base we awaited the communal evening meal. In keeping with the general ‘feel’ of the place the meal was held in very pleasant surroundings. It was also quite delicious as was the wine. After this rather pleasant and enjoyable topping up of the calorie levels it was back to the dorm, discuss tomorrow’s plans and then await the inevitable moment where I have no choice but to unfurl the sleeping bag and nustle down comfortably before ‘lights out’ plunges all of us into darkness. By now, despite the different albergues, all evenings had become the same sort of experience for me, i.e. far too early for my body clock. I have no recollection of how this particular night passed by.
On these quite hot days the water is as eagerly awaited as the wine. 
The wine does have a fancy lable though! 
It may not be the most ‘haute’ of cuisines but it is truly truly welcoming toward the end of the day.
Thought for the day.
1.So Day 13 on the Camino passed by with nothing much in the way of bad luck getting in my way. So much for superstition. It is quite interesting checking out the origin of these sorts of things and why some of us get so hung up about it.
2.So because there was no specific incident to meditate upon it’d be easy to pass day 13 off as uneventful, but that would be an injustice in my opinion. We should each and everyone of us relish and celebrate every day on the Camino. By now I had begun to feel as though I was fully integrated into and absorbed by the environment that I was passing through everyday. It was as if I had been destined to be doing this very thing. And fellow peregrinos are an absolutely essential part of the whole ‘experience’. To say it was all quite amazing is a definite understatement.
3.The total mileage walked so far, to Villafranca de Montes de Oca was around 156 miles (251.4 km) which implied an average daily mileage of 12 miles. A bit less than what I’d planned, but so far I felt quite comfortable and there was no problem whatsoever with feet, ankles, legs, knees, etc., etc. For that fact I was truly thankful.
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