Spain
Monasterio Real de San Benito

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    • Day 17

      Sahagun

      August 16, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      After 40 km I arrived in Sahagun and get a clean bed with a real sheet and cupboards and a nice shower! Pilgrim heart, what else can you think of! Today there was a nice wind and it wasn’t hot - so quite ideal! I followed a nice smell (no, not my own shirt 🫣😷) and met people from France and Ecuador who I met before, so we went the last 7 km together! 54 km from Leon now- puhRead more

    • Day 31

      Sahagun (16.2km / 406.3km)

      May 13, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      A milestone day - Half way and over 400km 🏅🙏🍾
      It was freezing this morning! Well, almost, but it felt colder than the 2 degrees! We had a proper breakfast at the Albergues and braced for the cold. We warmed up quite quickly and enjoyed a peaceful cool walk. The landscape has flattened out a lot but still farms as far as the eye can see. We went through a couple of small villages and stopped for a coffee. We then took the alternative route from San Nicolas to Sahagun which was further away from the road. It was stunning and we didn’t see another person for about an hour, just the sounds of nature.
      We reached the Ermita, la Virgen del Puenta which is the “official” geographic half way point of the Camino Frances without much fanfare but a sense of achievement and then headed for town.

      We arrived in Sahagun. Their market day is Saturday, so we walked through the market, which made the streets very crowded. Everything was for sale from deli items to clothes. We arrived at our Albergue - the Monasterio de Santa Cruz. The Marist priests have been running it for the last 5 years and it is linked to the Benedictine Convent. A Marist Brother from England took us through the ropes and checked us in. We slipped out into the busy streets for some lunch and met up with some Aussie pilgrims that we keep bumping into. We joined in the coffee / tea sharing session at our Albergue. We were split into an English speaking (pretty much everything except Spanish and Italian) group - there were about 12 of us led by a volunteer from the States. It was beautifully run and great to meet new faces. We then got our official half way certificate and went to Mass at Iglesia San Juan which is the convent church. The Priest was very welcoming and tried to include all languages. I (Jane) read the 2nd reading in English. He gave a lovely Pilgrim Blessing after Mass - there would have been over 50 pilgrims. It is so lovely to see so many pilgrims make an effort to come for each pilgrim blessing and everyone is always welcome. The Sisters were also involved and sang the Magnificat and bid us all “Buen Camino” with such beautiful smiles. We had a communal dinner with the pilgrims, Brothers and volunteers. Everyone was asked to bring a plate and what a feast was laid on, with plenty of chattering and laughter. There is to be silence for everyone from 10pm to 7am, so we will enjoy a bit of a sleep in as we only have a short day tomorrow.
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    • Day 27

      Day 23: Sahagùn to El Burgo Ranero

      June 9, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

      Mileage: 11.25 miles
      Altitude gain: 433 feet
      Altitude loss: 292 feet
      Weather: cool, cloudy, windy, and once again rainy after I arrived at my destination
      Total mileage: 275 miles

      Doesn’t El Burgo Ranero sound like a Spanish fusion restaurant in Texas?

      Another austere day on the meseta, made even more so with the almost fall-like weather. (I am NOT complaining about the weather, as anything is better than 90+ degrees!) Once again I was glad to have split up guidebook stages to have shorter stages, and I’m seeing some of the same people every day, so I’m not the only one. Not as much of interest to report today, but overall it was a good day on the Camino, and I’m happy to be resting at my albergue.

      1. Arco San Benito in Sahagún
      2. Puente Canto on the way out of Sahagún
      3. Ria Cea from the bridge
      4. The path out of Sahagún was quite lovely
      5. Most of today was next to a highway
      6. I’ve seen a lot of this kind of construction in villages today. Makes our lath and plaster house look new-fangled!
      7. Grain field with ominous clouds
      8. Quite a few cyclists today.
      9. I didn’t know where I would stay tonight until I got here, but this albergue is a little oasis!
      10. Storks? in their huge nests on the steeple, which is common.
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    • Day 27

      Giving Up Cruz de Ferro

      June 28, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

      Cruz de Ferro is the highest point of the entire Camino Frances. There is a cross there where people have laid down small stones and other mementos and said prayers thanking God for taking away their burdens.

      I have carried a small stone given to my by Harrison for that very occasion. Today I laid it down at the small memorial pictured here, knowing that I will not make it to Cruz de Ferro—due to the lack of dialysis after Astorga and the climb itself.

      Still, I thanked (and thank!) God for the sacrifice of Christ and his willingness “all my sins and griefs to bear.”

      I have had to let go of many things on this Camino and not seeing Cruz de Ferro might be the least of them (and probably not the last). Still, what I have gained in drawing closer to God, drawing closer to Sean, in what I have been blessed to do, and in the friendships gained, has FAR outweighed anything I have given up!
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    • Day 12

      Camino Day 7 - El Burgo Ranero

      August 31, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 9 °C

      Left the Monastery a little later and made it easy to our 1st stop.
      A bit difficult getting accommodation for tonight saw us booking a private room, at triple the cost of an albergue, and Helen and Rod taking an alternative route and booking a room in a different town.
      These things happen on the Camino.
      The path was really nice today with trees lining almost all of it right up to our finish town.
      Had to farewell our Brazilian couple today who needed to walk on to meet their deadlines, so that was sad. We will probably say goodbye to the rest tomorrow as we head into Leon in a couple of days and spend a few rest days there.
      A bit sad.
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    • Day 25 - Cazadilla to Sahagún - 23km

      September 23, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      I was up and at ‘em at 7 and on the road by 7:30. It is now cold in the mornings, it was only 6 degrees this morning so I had pants and jacket on. Today’s goal was 23km. The first town was 6km away so the plan was to have breakfast there. When I arrived, there was one bar open, and they only had a few things in packages, so I had a packaged croissant and brownie.

      The next town was only 3kms away but I was starting to get hot so I stopped again and “zipped my legs off”, took off my jacket and long sleeve shirt. Skip (from Connecticut) came in as well as I was resting. I had met him a few days ago when he accidentally walked too far and had to take a taxi back as the place he walked to was full but he had a reservation where we were. I would tell you the name of the town, but they really just all blend together now.

      Skip and I walked together for awhile. We stopped in San Nichol for a bite to eat, then there was only 8kms to go. After about 4kms, I could see that I needed to take my break. My left leg and blister were acting up. We parted ways just before town. I arrived at my albergue around 3pm. It was good that I had a reservation as they just filled up. It is a parish albergue which I wanted.

      We had a pilgrims mass tonight and it was in both English and Spanish. After the mass, there was a special pilgrims blessing. When the blessing was done, then we had to each take a special message specifically for us that was printed on a rolled up paper. Mine is: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” Mt 5:14.16

      Dinner is in about 10 mins (at 8pm). It is a communal dinner, but we each had to bring something that would feed 4 people so it is like a potluck. There is a grocery store across the street, so I picked up some cooked pasta. It should be interesting.

      TTYL
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    • Grajal de Campos To Sahagun

      September 25, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

      What a day. We arrived in Sahagun earlier today, completing our Camino de Madrid! We obtained a document at the end to commemorate this at an old church/ museum at the entrance to town.

      We are now on the Camino Frances. The number of pilgrims here is staggering. Since we were early to town, we obtained our beds at a very nice parochial albergue. This evening, we were invited to a pilgrim mass and blessing at the attached church. At mass, I was approached by the priest to do the first reading. After we had a great communal meal.

      Anyway, tomorrow we continue on the Frances to Ponferada, at which point we will switch to the Invierno.
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    • Day 4

      Sahagun

      October 5, 2019 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Dag mijn apostelen,

      Vandaag hebben we wel al wat meegemaakt hoor. Wel 40 kilometer van landschap hebben we meegemaakt. Net zoals ik bij mijn voorgaande blog had gezegt, was het ook hier niet echt super interessant. Maar ja jullie komen hier niet voor intressante dingen want anders zouden jullie mijn blogjes niet allemaal lezen.

      Wat we wel allemaal zijn tegengekomen zijn leuke blaren die mijn voeten gretig meenemen. Eentje is geentje nietwaar. Ik was wel heel blij dat het van sochtends tot 12 uur zodanig mistig was dat ik mijn warme kleren kon aanlaten (je weet wel voor de verbranding enzo). Eindelijk aangekomen in Sahagun, waar mijn vermoeden is dat een japanner deze naam heeft uitgekozen want ik kan hel niet deftig uitspreken, was zelf papa helemaal bekaf.

      We hadden gekozen voor een benedictinas omdat ons vorig verblijf zo aangenaam was. Normaal staat er op het lijstje (met alle albergues en andere nuttige info) dat er maar 12 bedden zijn. Gelukkig zag meneer de pastoor dat wij simple mensen zijn en gaf ons een kamer. Hij vertelde ons ook dat er een pre dink is om 5uur om ons al goed te bezatten. Om 6 30 konden we feesten op hosties en om 8 uur is het wijnproeverij.
      Helaas was dit niet het geval en werd het wat soberder gevierd. Tijdens het laatste avond (ik hoop niet het mijne) had ik nog een zuid korean leren kennen. Echt wel een toffe kerel van 26 jaar. Ik mocht hem song noemen want zijn voorste stuk was wat te moeilijk.

      En nu een arbrud einde aan deze blog want mijn buren willen denk ik graag slapen, dus ik rond het hier maar best mee af.

      Slaapwel jongetjes, meisjes en het (ik discrimineer niet) tot morgen en buenos caminos!
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    • Day 17

      17. Tag Marathon ✅

      July 21, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

      In der Halbzeitpause des Frauen Viertelfinales diesen Text schreibend, bin ich sehr froh und auch ein wenig stolz im 42 Kilometer entfernten Sahagún komplett Sauerstoffzelt benötigend in der Alberge zu liegen.

      Heute fällt es mir nicht leicht Worte zu finden, daher belasse ich diesen Beitrag mal ein wenig kürzer.

      Die 42 Kilometer in 7:50 Stunden abgearbeitet mit nur ca 6-8 Minuten Nettopause insgesamt, bin ich gegen 15:15 Uhr im Ziel angekommen. Aber mit welchem Opfer? Ich denke gerade weil ich mein ganzes Leben Leistungssport ausgeübt habe, ist die Distanz und der Kampfgeist zum Laufen nicht das Problem. Wenn man aber in der Alberge mit 4 neuen Blasen ankommt, die sowas von unglaublich Schmerzen, dass man kaum stehen kann, dann geht das komplett auf die Psyche.

      Meine Füße von einer Hospitalera in Rente checken lassen, die früher Ärztin war, ahnte sie nichts gutes. Die sehr dünne Haut auf meinem Fußprofil wird laut ihrer Prophezeiung den ganzen weiteren Jakobsweg anhalten und mir immer wieder Blasen bescheren - sie taufte meinen Weg unglaublich Hoffnungsvoll den ‚Camino del dolor‘.

      Einerseits stolz darüber, dass man den Tag bewältigt hat, überwiegt aber komplett die Verzweiflung. Die Psyche ist in den Tagen ein entscheidender Faktor. Naja gut, morgen die Schuhe wieder an und hoffen, dass man irgendwie den Jungen überlebt . Ein mitfühlender Pelligrino meinte nett: Alex, du hast keine Blasen an den Füßen, sondern ein bisschen Fuß auf den Blasen - ich glaube das fasst es perfekt zusammen! Kommt’s gut in die Nacht ✌🏻

      #CaminoDelHaltdeinmaul #immerweiter

      P.S.: dankeeee für die unglaublich tollen Telefonate heute, ich werde die Tage davon berichten! ❤️
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    • Day 27

      “Mobile Community”

      June 28, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

      I think that’s the phrase that Nancy used to describe our recent experience—repeatedly running into many of the same people, even when my dialysis schedule has us hopping around (both ahead and behind).

      The first picture you’ve probably seen before, showing Sean and our friend Brandon (middle school science teacher at a private Catholic school in Houston, TX).

      The second picture is of our friends the Colemans, Michelle and Brian. Michelle teaches communications at a college and Brian is a music teacher at a high school.

      I have literally lost count of the times and places we have bumped into the Colemans. We’ll walk by a restaurant and there they are. We‘ll check into an albergue—voila! I’ve mentioned them in many of my blogs and still haven’t covered half of the times we’ve have enjoyed spending time with them.

      The video is courtesy of Sean and shows a spontaneous community dinner the other night with Maria and Lucas from Brazil, Charlotte from the UK, the Colemans, unknown, Richard “the Gentle Giant” from Los Angeles, Brandon, and Mike from New York.

      What a blessing these friends have been to us and how privileged we have been to get to know each of them better.
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    Monasterio Real de San Benito

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