Day 23. Sahagun

Today’s 23 km walk brought me to a town called Sahagun, full of ancient monuments, churches, monasteries, and history. The earth terrain is similar to what I’ve been walking on the past few days with occasional shelter from hedges covered in sweet smelling yellow flowers.
There was a short climbing section with a little grade; otherwise, it was fairly flat. I arrived at the hotel by1:00 pm and it took me 20 minutes to check in. The proprietor knew no English, and all I know in Spanish is “hello” and “good day.” I tried some French, but no luck, so we essentially played charades for 20 minutes.
After that, I showered before going out to explore the town. Not much open during afternoons. This is roughly the halfway point of the Camino, and they issue halfway certificates at the Pilgrim Office, but it was closed. Sunday appears to be family day, but little happens until mid to late afternoon. We’ll see what happens this evening. I did meet Father Mark on his way to the Pilgrim Office, who asked me if it was open. I informed him it wasn’t, then asked if I could take a photo with him. The photo shows his walking attire, with him wearing his best Sunday shoes.
As I was leaving this morning’s hotel, one of the American ladies with us yesterday couldn’t find her purse which contained her money, credit cards , and passport. She had planned on taking a rest day there, but I hope she was able to retrieve her stuff. Also, there was a German girl there from Hamburg, the one who took our group photo yesterday, who was having a hard time. She had been on the Camino at the same time last year, but only got as far as Burgos, when she got news that her mother had died. She continued from Burgos this year on the same day exactly one year later, but it doesn’t appear she is going to go much further. She couldn’t sleep at all last night and doesn’t have the strength or energy to go any further. She is just overcome with sadness. Many pilgrims are grieving.
I did reconnect with the Minnesota couple for a while, but spent most of my time with a couple from South Africa, Steve and Monica, who have now retired to Belize. They had spent 5 years in the US before moving to Belize. They observed that one of the largest groups of retirees in Belize are Canadians.Read more