El Camino de Santiago - 2017

Day 14: Terradillos de los Templarios to Sahagún

Michelle wrote:
20 Sept. Wednsday

The first of 2 dairies that we would come
across on the Camino.  We could hear
a calf bawling for its mama.  She was
just around the corner in the barn.

We slept late today and didn’t leave Terradillos until 8:30 am!  After a short 3 km walk, we stopped for breakfast in Moratinos, a very interesting village.  It had 2 palomares and very old, but cool bodegos cut into a hill.  They looked like hobbit houses!  They date back to possibly Roman times and were used as cellars.  Families still use them today.  We saw our friend Cathy from Seattle again.  That was a fun surprise and we walked with her and another woman, Mariana from British Columbia, to San Nicolas del Real Camino.  On the way we saw a clever sign advertising the 2nd Bar.   We thought that was funny since we like to stop at the 2nd bars in the villages because the first bars are always crowded.  We found the 2nd Bar in San Nicolas and it is the cutest albergue/cafe we have seen.  It had lots of flowers in pots, fun art work, crocheted cushions, nice music, etc.  A great place to stop and relax.  The owners were very nice. One of them had done the artwork.  

 From San Nicolas we walked through the fields instead of along the highway and it was very pleasant and warm.  

We crossed the N-120 and stopped to rest at the Virgin del Puente ermita.  It is a small church that has been preserved.  They claim that THIS is the halfway point between St. Jean and Santiago.  We then walked into Sahagun and finally found our hostel Escarcha.  It is an older building that looked like it was a nice and happening place a few decades ago.   The bar area seemed a  little sketchy and I wouldn’t have eaten there if they were serving food.  Our room upstairs was comfortable and the bathroom was nice.  We showered, washed the clothes and hung them out in a nice courtyard.  Then we went exploring.  We saw other pilgrims we had met before, found a little store where we bought ham & cheese empanadas, gazpacho, drinks and stuff for breakfast.  We ate in a small plaza and fed crumbs to the birds.  Then Curtis got a shave at a real barber!  His beard was trimmed up well and his skin was so soft after the shave.  Nice job Barber of Sahagun!  We walked around town for a bit and decided to call it a night.  We have to leave early in the morning so we can get to El Burgo Ranero (17.7 km) early enough to get beds.  The places that take reservations are full.  There are 2 albergues that are first come, first served.  Not our favorite kinds of places, but we can’t live in luxury all the time.

Leaving Terradillos shortly after sunrise

Select this link to see the inside of the bar where we ordered breakfast.

Curtis writes:

Classic Breakfast at Hostal Moratinos

We were again among the last to leave the albergue.  Later we would learn that true pilgrims expect to suffer on this journey.  We did not.  Hence, we did not suffer to give up on sleep.

It was a 3.4km hike to breakfast in the next town, Moratinos.  What a surprise it was to find Cathy from Seattle finishing her breakfast at Hostal Moratinos.  We had first met Cathy coming out of Logroño on our first day this year.

We had noticed a few cellars along the trail: mounds of dirt with a chimney and a door.  But at Moratinos, they had taken it to a whole new level.  Apparently hundreds of years ago, this region was covered with grape vines, part of a wine culture that dates back 2000 years to the Romans.  Every family had their own cellar where they would process and store the grapes.  At Moratinos, several families had combined their cellars (bodegas) under one big hill.  No one knows how old these particular bodegas are, but some of the equipment found in them, and the stories told about them, go back 500 years.

The bodegas (cellars) at Moratinos

It was fun to see how the families had customized the entrances to their bodegas (cellars):

Legend says they were dug in wintertime, a pastime for children who could keep warm and occupied scooping out the soft clay.  Once exposed to air, the earth hardened to a stony finish, strong enough to support the waste earth that was raised in buckets through a chimney ventilation shaft and dumped out to form the roof of the present "Castillo".

Another set of more modern structures that caught Michelles attention was a pair of dove cotes (palomares).

Dove cotes framing a lonely tree on the hill behond.

Leaving Moratinos, we had 2.6km to go to San Nicolas del Real Camino.

Michelle walking with Mariana between San Nicolas del Real Camino and Sahagún.
The lonely tree is seen in the previous picture between the dove cotes.

We got a hint of something interesting in San Nicolas when we came across this sign:

Approaching San Nicolas del Real Camino

We had started skipping the first bar in town to avoid the crowds and just to give the other guys a chance.  This time we were well rewarded.  The second bar was indeed cool.

Inside the 2nd bar in San Nicolas

After walking acros the dry and yellow meseta, greenery and flowers are captivating.

Another time we will have to spend the night there.  On this trip we bought orange juice and snacks.  There were still 6.9km to go before reaching Sahagun.

Michelle, Mariana and Cathy in San Nicolas

Saying good bye to the 2nd Bar

On the outskirts of Sahagun (such a strange name - I should research where it comes from because it does not fit with most Spanish)...approaching Sahagun is a small chapel with the claim to being the half-way point between Saint Jean Pied de Port and Santiago.  We crossed several "half-way" points.  When you think about it, all along the Camino, we were "half-way" between there and somewhere else.

We've just crossed the halfway point.

Our albergue in hostal in Sahagun was nothing remarkable - I didn't get a picture of it.  Dinner from the small grocery store was simple.  We enjoyed it on a park bench at Plaza Gral. Mola.

Dinner on the park bench in Sahagun.

Michelle is holding my new favorite chocolate milk from Asturias.  

Link to this spot in Google Maps

Some men shave before dinner.  I was shaved after dinner.

Getting a shave from a barber with personal experience

I can see that some guys would wonder about getting a haircut from a bald barber, but if you're just getting a shave, it totally makes sense.  He did a fine job.  I would go back - if it weren't so far.

El Camino de Santiago - 2017

Day 13: Carrión de los Condes to Terradillos de los Templarios

Michelle wrote:
19 Sept. Tuesday
Today we walked the 26 km!  We left Carrion de los Condes at 7:30 am and arrived at our albergue, Los Templarios, at 2:30 pm. It was a LONG straight road most of the day and there were a LOT of pilgrims strung all along the camino.  We only passed through 2 towns during those 26 km.  The first one was Calzadilla de la Cueza and it was 17.3 km from Carrion.  We made several stops in the bushes before we got to Calzadilla!  We took snacks with us to eat along the way and to keep our energy up.  The other town was Ledigos which was only 3 km from Terradillos de los Templarios, so we were motivated to keep going.  We met a nice young man from Denmark on the road and enjoyed talking with him.  His English was very good and he had interesting ideas he liked to talk about. He had been active in Boy Scouts for 15 years and told us about the programs they have in Denmark.  Talking with him made the time and distance pass much more quickly.  Curtis and I took the more remote optional path from Calzadilla.  We were the only ones on that road.  It wasn’t as beautiful as some of the other routes we’ve taken, but it wasn’t right along the highway and it was nice and quiet.  

The weather has been perfect. It is not so cold in the morning now, and the sun warms us up quickly.  It is sunny and in the 70’s in the afternoon.  Great for drying clothes on the line!  We are really surprised at the scarcity of sheep, cattle, horses. etc.  We saw so many more animals in Navarra.  We have only seen one flock of sheep and a few cows at a dairy.  No more grapes or olives, either.  Just huge fields of hay and some alfalfa.   This albergue had a great big clothesline in the back yard.  I enjoyed sitting in the sun while waiting for the clothes to dry.  Curtis had to sit in a certain spot inside the albergue to have access to the wifi.  We had a private room at the end of the hall.  It was nice and peaceful, even though the flies have been annoying this year.   Note:  the guidebook says we are approximately half way to Santiago from St. Jean!

Day 13, El Camino 2017
We hiked 27.3 km today. That is the longest we've ever done in one day. Our next long day is Monday, when we leave Leon: 21km to the next town.  The map below (from Gronze.com) shows a total of 26.3km but it does not include the "opcion" section where we walked along a road through the briars and brambles, and away from the highway, between Calzadilla de la Cueza and Ledigos.  Previously when we had taken the optional path, we could see pilgrims walking along the default path at the edge of the highway.  This time, though, we could not see the highway and we did not see anyone else the whole time we were on the optional path.  Consiquently we went through a little bit of anxiety.  We were so accostumed to being around other hikers (mostly passing us) that the lack of company was disconcerting.  It was also disconcerting that we only saw one Camino sign on this optional path.




Thinking back about Carrion de los Condes, it's not as bad as the name makes it sound. We found a couple of shops where we really had to cinch down the credit card because it was very eager to jump out and get used. We only bought one shirt and a travel towel to replace the one that is hanging on the clothes line above the choir loft of the cathedral in Grañon (it's in the attic). Wait, that's not quite right. We also stopped at a pharmacy and bought some foot care products and some Alka Seltzer.

At first, the route exiting Carrion de los Condes is along a paved road.  Eventually it becomes a dirt road.  Nearer to town, the fields are smaller and bordered by trees and bushes.  Further from town, the fields are huge.

Looking back towards the sun rising behind Carrion de los Condes - and the pilgrims following us.

The fields are bordered by trees nearer to town.

The next two pictures are from the same spot.

Looking forward towards Calzadilla de la Cueza

Looking backward toward Carrion de los Condes

In the next photo Michelle is still smiling despite the sore feet. She is definitly strong willed. This is at a bench adjacent the water fountain on the right side of the road, at the entrance to Calzadilla de la Cueza.

As mentioned above, leaving Calzadilla de la Cueza, we had the option to follow a path that did not run adjacent to the highway.  Being that the previous time we had this opportunity it turned out to be a very good decision, we chose the optional path.

Part of the optional path cut through the bushes

It's interesting how you can get accostumed to regular affirmations that you're doing the right thing.  When those affirmations are missing, it can be quite distressing.  On this optional path there was only one (1) yellow arrow confirming that we were on the camino.  Granted, that single yellow arrow was at the only place where we could have gone the wrong direction.  I was worried that we had taken the wrong road when we left the main camino.  We saw no other hikers on this section.  We saw one vehicle driving through the fields at a distance.  We, in fact, were lonely.  Quite strange, huh.

The single yellow arrow indicating the Camino on the optional path between Calzadilla de la Cueza and Ledigos.

This is where the optional path joins the main Camino

It was a relief when the optional path came in sight of the main Camino.  We could see other hikers, so we knew that all our walking through the wilderness was not in vain. 

The day before this we had investigated staying at the next town, Ledigos, but the inn was full.  

Entrance to Ledigos

It turns out that we got a better deal anyway.  A few kilometers further down the road from Ledigos is Terradillos de los Templarios.  

Approaching Terradillos de los Templarios

The albergue on the outskirts of Terradillos

 The albergue there is new and the hospitaleros (the staff) were very good.  They made us feel welcome and we got a nice room with our own bathroom... aaahhh.  The clothesline over the lawn was huge.  On a sunny, breezy day like this one, the clothes dried quickly.

Real green grass and a clothes line that matches the number of guests in the albergue

 After the routine tasks of showering, doing the laundry and updating the family via Whatsup, Facebook and email, we took a walk through the town.

Adobe-like walls and paved streets with curbs. CLEAN
One more interesting note: no graffiti like in the cities.

The walls of many buildings are essentially mud with straw.  One would think that would erode quickly in a rainstorm.

This kind of wall was common in this town and the next ones we passed through for two days.

A layer of stucco and white wash with flowers in the windows raises the standard on this building.