Monasterio Real de San Benito

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.Читать далее