14km today. Not a total easy day but the walking was quick and flat.
I left at 7:15. 200m down the road it started raining. I turned around and walked back to the albergue, back to lay down in my warm dry bed. A bit later I joined Cora and Lilian for breakfast. I had a piece of what could be considered coffee cake.
We headed out into the drizzle. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plains. Well, I don't know about that but it did rain on the plains today.
I did get lost once. I followed a guy through an underpass thinking that the camino continued there. He joked that the town's name, Sahagun, sounded more Japanese than Spanish and asked me if I was a samurai. I said no because if I was that trained I would be in Santiago already. It ended up the path we were on was just a farm road and I could see the camino on the other side of the highway. A bit further on I climbed the embankment up to a dilapidated overpass, across the highway and back down to the camino.
And more sunflowers.
The as soon as Sahagun seems close the camino veers sharply away from the town for a quick detour to a church. The lady inside had a brindled boxer with her and was doling tourist info. My Spanish is getting good enough so I can understand most of what people say asking as the conversation is about food, lodging or historical sights. After her spiel she motioned for me to follow her. Then she showed me how to ring the church bell and let me ring it all by myself. Pretty cool.
These guys guard the path as it leads to Sahagun.
Sahagun considers itself to be the center of the camino. Every sign that say how many kilometers to Santiago counts differently. So while I have no idea which one is correct the map on my pilgrim passport says that there is 356km to Santiago which means I am more than half way. Yippi!
I easily found the municipal albergue and got in line to check in. The check in office os also the tourist information office. €5
Right after I checked in I see none other than Cora and Lilian come in. It is getting down right funny how often we see each other. They are so nice and I will miss them. Today is their last day on the camino. They started last summer and will finish it next summer.
Cora and Lilian had been to the train station to try to get to Bilbao but the trains were booked for the next four days. They were trying to use the computer to book bus ticket. Between the three if us we must have tried like ten times but it would not take any of our credit cards. They were getting scared that they would be stuck here forever. Eventually we managed to pay with my Paypal account and they just paid me cash.
The albergue is in a huge derelict building that has been repurposed as an albergue. It is really cool. The albergue is on the second floor. The new wood floor and stairs have just been stuffed into the old building. All the bunks are enclosed on three sides making them like little caves. I had a top bunk. The ceiling was still twenty feet overhead and I could stand on my bunk and see out over the sea of bunks.
The group here seems to know each other well. Everyone was cooking and eating communally. I asked one guy Michael from Texas and he said they were all part of a church group. I asked if Father Anthony was with them. Surprised he said yes. This was the group Vance knows (Vance was traveling one day ahead to meet his wife in Leon). I met Father Anthony and told them the saga of the roast lamb.
Cora, Lilian and I went out to get food and drinks. Cora likes the camino much better after a glass of wine at the end of the day. We sat outside at a restaurant on the square. The TV showed graphic replays of the train crash. It is very sad, all those lives lost because of such carelessness.
We split a pizza loaded with toppings. It had so many toppings the center wasn't done enough to support their weigh. Thus turning the thing into a giant cheesy mess. But it was really yummy.
We took a siesta back at the albergue. Not hungry for a full dinner later we picked up stuff to snack on: bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese. The albergue kitchen was packed again with people cooking. Boy does this group cook all the time.
Later everyone climbed on my bed to see the view of bunks all around.
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