Last night we had supper with Margie, from New York. Another typical perigrino meal but by the time supper rolls around, which is normally 7:30 or 8, all you want to do is eat and go to bed. Eating that late and then just going to bed does not make for a good nights sleep. The room was good but on the hot side, making sleeping even harder. Lynn noticed it poured around 4am, but Russ slept through it.
Breakfast this morning was what we had been warned to expect, orange juice, bread, jam and coffee. A far cry what we are used to. They had some scrambled eggs on the bar, but after watching the flies walking over them, Russ decided that if they were offered , he would accept, but he wouldn't ask. They didn't, and he didn't. We again shared the table with Margie, who is with a travel service and she got yogurt. Lynn had asked for yogurt, but the guy asked the room number, and he said it wasn't included. After breakfast he wanted us to pay and Lynn told him we were with Tee Travel and breakfast was included, and he goes 'oh yes, of course'. Lynn bets the yogurt was included. grrrr
Breakfast started on a sour note, with the pitter patter of rain, but by the time we had put our packs on, it had stopped. On the way out, a group of Germans hassled Russ on his inappropriate hiking attire, short sleeve shirt, shorts, and no rain coat. They all had rain gear and cold weather clothes on. Russ commented that he was a tough Canadian, which got approving chuckles. The attire proved a good choice as it didn't rain again all day and as usual got hot in a hurry.
Today was a much nicer walk than previous days on the mesa as there were hills, trees and many towns. This breaks up the walk and makes it seem much shorter. At least, it provides milestones along the way and you feel like you are making progress.
We stopped at Moratinos for a coffee con leche. The albergue had only been opened for two years and was lovely. Lynn commented to the fellow working in the restaurant that they had all of the favorite foods of North Americans: granola, yogurt, fruit, and peanut butter. It's the first time we've seen peanut butter in a restaurant along the Camino in Spain, and the fellow said it was very difficult to get. Entering the town we noticed some doors in the side of the hill, across the road, and were told they were bodegas, now not used, but they used to be used for wine storage.
Also, two neighbours had combined their bodegas into a restaurant. Unfortunately it didn't open unto 11am and we didn't want to wait around.
Further on in San Nicolas del Real Camino, we stopped to get some Gatorade (actually that was just an excuse to use the banjos, which always say 'for clients only'). The parish church, Iglesia de San Nicolas Obispo is built of clay brick. It had a charm of it's own, and at one point, a white dove landed on a ledge near the bells.
On the way out of town, we noticed a number of bee hives stacked up in the street. We can only assume they were either new or being cleaned prior to being placed in the field.
This was now a day in which we saw two things Brierly, in his guide, had mentioned and said 'will you see them?'
Just prior to entering our destination today, we passed by the Ermita de Virgen del Puente. The building dates from the 12th century and relates to the story of a girl who went there and prayed to the Virgin Mary that she might have a son. The girl bore a son who was Don Juan of Sahagun, the patron of the town.
Approaching Sahagun from a distance, the city looked huge and it was obvious this is a happening place. When we actually entered the city, the streets were jammed with people and there were vendors selling all sorts of goods, fruits and vegetables in the streets around our hotel. It was difficult to even find a place with an empty table to sit down and have lunch. We had a perfectly acceptable, familiar to us North Americans, plate of sphagetti, the only down side being it seems every second person in Spain smokes.
With all these market stalls set up everywhere we wondered about Siesta - it is Saturday. But everything shut down very quickly shortly after 2pm (slightly later than usual). We are concerned about tomorrow, being a Sunday, and there isn't much where we are going so we headed to the mercado before going to our room for daily shower et al. We thought it would be open all day until 9pm. Good thing we went when we did, it closed for the day at 3.
Summary - a rather short day that was more interesting than the last few and which allowed us to look around at the street market and the shops before they closed for the day. We are now more than half way to Santiago.
Distance today - 22km
Distance total - 422.5km
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