This morning while waiting for our cab (more on that in a second), the faculty got a tour of the albergue basement from the family that runs the albergue. There’s Roman architecture that they are preserving and adding a large soaking tub with very ornate stonework and solar energy. Naturally, I took no photos, but it’s a multi-year project. If I’m lucky enough to return, I hope it’s complete by the next trip.
This morning (as I’m writing this entry), the faculty and Dean are meeting with representatives from the city of Palencia to explore potential future partnerships. I’ll report back after the meeting.
(Next day)
Wow, what a great day! I thought I would be more bummed that we weren’t walking, but based on student feedback (long, flat, hot), it doesn’t sound like we missed out on anything significant, and our day spent with the people of Palencia was AMAZING.
We met Patro and Ana in the central plaza of Palencia. Ana works as the Director of Tourism and Patro formerly worked for the same department and now works for City Hall (I think). We started with a tour of the Palencia Cathedral. Let me tell you — I’ve toured my fair share of cathedrals and ruins in my day, and this one easily lands in the top 3. Started in the 8th century, the Cathedral of Santo Antolín is a beautiful and fascinating time lapse — Roman and Gothic influences, incredible paintings and sculptures and tapestries. And Ana’s tour and information tremendously enhanced our experience. In future programs, I would recommend skipping this 16 mile walk and bussing the group to Palencia for a cathedral tour and town visit.
After the cathedral, we met with faculty from the Palencia satellite campus (La Yutera), part of the larger Universidad de Valladolid system. Margarita is an education faculty member, Jesus is a sociologist, and Christina coordinates programs. We explored a variety of potential partnerships, which I won’t go into detail about on this blog, but I will say that I am excited and optimistic that our universities will be able to partner in some form or fashion in the future.
Ana, Patro, and the Westminster team had lunch at D’Candela, where we feasted on pork belly, blood sausage, ensaladilla, calamari, and ice cream before we said our goodbyes and took a cab to Carrión de los Condes to meet the students. 10 out of 10 would recommend Palencia for future Camino side trips — particularly for place-based learning.
Upon arriving in Carrión de los Condes, the faculty went shopping so that we could host what is now a time-honored tradition of picnicking in the park with manchego cheese, a baguette, charcuterie, cookies, and the dulcet tunes of Spanish guitar. We also were very immature and hosted an epic clipping war.
After dinner, we decided to get second dinner at a very fun and fancy monastery-turned-hotel restaurant called San Zoilo. I polled my colleagues for a description of our dining experience:
- “Third most heavy in a not very good mob movie who we know will do anything.”
- “Suppressed rage.”
- “Surly is too nice.”
- “Poorly concealed contempt.”
- “The fear dinner.”
We had an absolute blast at dinner and the food was pretty good, but my god, the server’s attitude toward us was so antagonistic, it was truly comical.
