After all the excitement of the beaches, mountains, trains, festivals, action, etc ... I was a little worried that the kids might not enjoy our next stop.
Boadilla del Camino is an itsy bitsy teeny weeny tiny little village in the middle of nowhere. But, it was one of my
favorite places on the camino with one of my
favorite people from the camino. Eduardo and his family own an albergue and restaurant in Boadilla. I didn't even stay at the albergue overnight and I don't even remember going into the restaurant. I sat at a table outside and had coffee.
Almost every day on the camino, I had to stop for coffee so that I could use a real toilet. (Sorry, that subject keeps coming up.) Usually, I paid €1,20 ($2) for a dinky little cup of European coffee - thicker than tar and gone in one sip. In Boadilla, I ordered a cup of coffee and Eduardo brought me a "bowl" of coffee. He spoke sincerely about his family and about pilgrims. Before I left, Eduardo plucked lilacs from his yard so I could smell them all day long. I was really looking forward to going back. I wanted my family to meet Eduardo and his family.
Matthew was also looking forward to going to Boadilla. Besides meeting Eduardo and family, it would be a chance for Matthew to see the camino in action. He could meet pilgrims coming in and out of the albergue and restaurant.
For the kids, uh, I didn't really know how to get them excited about going to Boadilla. It wasn't even on the map we had. I pointed to a yellowish area on the map that didn't show any roads or rivers or lakes or castles or monuments or ... anything but pale yellow. The kids don't drink coffee so they didn't care if it was a cup or a bowl. There wouldn't be any other kids to play with. There is no playground. There is a pool and grass and flowers. Well, okay, but I thought they would prefer a beach with sand. Ummm ... maybe they could help serve customers who came in for coffee or a sandwich. That was it. The kids got excited about playing "waitress and waiter." Uh oh. I hadn't even asked Eduardo if they could "help."
My worries were for naught ... the kids loved it. We spent 3 days with Eduardo, Hugo, Begoña, Jesús, and lots of pilgrims on their way to Santiago. Elena and Bronson "helped" serve customers and clear tables. (Hopefully, they helped more than hindered.)
We spent time with the family, their dogs and horses, neighbors, and pilgrims.
We saw a ~700(?) y.o. underground tunnel and a 300 y.o. bodega (wine making cellar).
We swam, we played, we relaxed.
Before we left, we wrote Boadilla del Camino on our map. It is one of our favorite places in the world.
More photos from Boadilla del Camino:
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