Saturday, August 23, 2008 Terradillos to Sahagun

Sahagun, Albergue Viatoris

Jim has not been well all day.  He thinks it is food poisoning from the ham and eggs he had last night at supper. (I had fish again. Still safe.)  So we decided to stop here in Sahagun, about half of what we wanted to do today.  We found a private albergue, the Viatoris, not far into town.  It’s a sort of big-box albergue, commercial and nothing particularly quaint or historic.  But the beds are comfortable and the showers and toilets are bright and clean and numerous. Perfectly satisfactory.  It’s right across the street, too, from a bull ring.  But no fights scheduled tonight.

Of course, the thought that is on our minds is whether and when Jim will recover and if this puts us behind our planned schedule.  It’s early on the walk, of course, but that’s part of the worry.  So many other things could happen between now and Santiago.  Are we on time as it is?  What do we do if not?  Really, I don’t think we are in much danger of not making SDC if he is well within the next day or so. I tried to build into the original itinerary some days off if necessary. Still, the idea that we might not finish is always in the back of our minds.

We had coffee about an hour out of Terradillos this morning at a very nice bar in San Nicolas del Real Camino.  Then got on with the walk and arrived at the hermitage of the Virgen de La Puenta about 11:30a.

Not feeling so well as we arrive at the hermitage

It was yet another brick chapel of indeterminate but obviously great age.   We rested in the shade behind the chapel for about an hour, Jim really in much discomfort.  It took about another hour to get to the outskirts once we got going again. It’s a hot and cloudless day, too, which doesn’t help a guy if he’s sick already.

On the Camino, pants like these with zip-on and zip-off legs are the bee's knees.

My own health has been good so far with the only big problem being my feet’s relationship to my boots.  I’ve got a slightly warm spot on the front of my left foot, though not enough to be a  hindrance.  I’ve been using Band Aid Blister Block and it seems to be working.  I have gotten too much sun on my calves and on my nose. I’ve worn the bottom of my zip-off pants all day and that has helped a great deal. I’ve also been careful to wear my Eddie Bauer hat.

With luck, we should be able to do a full day tomorrow.  But having some time to spend in Sahagun, I’m looking forward to seeing the sights of the city.  (At one time, this area also saw some serious fighting between Charlemagne and the Moors.)  When it cools down, I’ll take a hike into town.

Observation No. 1:  The sizable cities we’ve been through have virtually no suburban sprawl.  Apartment living is pretty much standard for everyone. There are no residential subdivisions like we Americans are used to.  Even in the rural areas, farmers seem to live in their small towns and drive out to their fields.  When you come to a city, there is no outer ring of strip shopping centers, etc, before you get to the urban center. It’s fields and then the city.  For us, it makes getting through a city pretty quick.  And you know when you arrive and when you leave.

Observation No. 2:  I’m not sure what to think about all the bicyclists.  Walkers have virtually no conversations with them, except the occasional “Hola!” or “Buen Camino!” as they pass each other.   What I don’t like is feeling like I have to look over my shoulder every two minutes to see if there is one behind me.  Bicycles can come upon the walker very quickly.  It makes being a pedestrian a bit of a nervous experience.  And the bikers hardly ever announce they are behind you, unlike back home on the rails-to-trails where the spoken “On your left” is de rigeur.

Plaza mayor in Sahagun

10:00p. Jim stayed in bed while I went into the city center to look around.  I went to find a grocery store and get some supper.  Restaurants I found, but no tienda open anywhere. I ate at the Caracas restaurant on the main street of Sahagun.  Had an excellent seafood paella with a drink made of red wine and coca cola on ice.  I thought it was sangria when I saw others drink it at the next table over.  But when I asked the waiter for it by pointing at the table next to me, he called it something else.  (I’ll need to look this up to find out the name of it.  He pronounced it, but I didn’t recognize it.  I still asked for it.  I figure if you’re not trying the local food, you’re missing a large part of the experience.)   The service was slow, but the waiter was working on at least another eight tables.  He seemed glad that I was not in a hurry.   I tipped him a euro on a bill of 8.45E.  From what I’ve heard, Europeans don’t tip much.  I’m not sure if a euro is welcome or not. Another mystery.

(N.B. The red wine/coke drink is calimocho.  See Wikipedia.)

Sitting there on the sidewalk outside the restaurant I witnessed a small parade, a sort of medieval street show.  There were kites on sticks and people dressed up as various figures and a car playing a loud recording of music through a huge speaker sitting in its trunk.  It was all over in about fifteen minutes, but a great spectacle.   No idea what it was about, but Jim would have liked it.

Church in Sahagun

Sahagun had the largest and one of the most powerful monasteries in Spain at one time, say the brochures and guidebook. The city is full of church buildings and ecclesiastical treasures and is obviously proud of its heritage.  There’s a nice museum here of Santa Semana parade figures.  The ruins of the monastery, however,  are the main thing to see.  Sadly, they were made that way by Napoleon’s army when it invaded in the early 1800’s.

The monastery ruins in Sahagun

I’m still impressed when I see so many people out on the streets in the evenings here in Spain.  Old and young, couples and families are all out, eating, walking, and talking.  This is what you get when you’re not living in a distant suburb, I guess.

I noticed this, too, back in Carrion de Los Condes.  When the sun starts to go down and it cools off, about seven or so, people start appearing on the streets.  Barcelona was like this, too, of course, but there they didn’t go back to bed until two or three.  Or later.