Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that this summer (2018) I walked 190km along the Camino de Santiago, from Burgos to Léon in Spain. This is the third leg of the Camino which I started in 2016 (if you’re interested, I wrote a Q&A post in response to some of the questions people had asked me along the way that year), I’m completing a leg each summer until 2020. This is Day 23 (other posts linked at the end of this post).
Camino Frances Day 23: Sahagún to El Burgo Ranero (approx 18 km)
Ah, a “shorter” day today! The guidebook doesn’t offer much about for today’s route which generally means there is nothing remarkable and that there’s probably not a lot of shade 🙂
Though it wasn’t a long day, I started out early from Sahagún – earlier than most people since I saw very few other walkers on this day…
Leaving Sahagún it felt like a walk in the park, literally…
But it was actually a pretty hot day which meant blue skies and made for a “harder” day than I expected (funny how all of a sudden 18km seems “short” and I’m expecting it to be “easy”).
There were a fair few trees and a bit of shade which made the first 10km-ish pretty do-able…
Just outside my morning coffee stop village (as I had come to think of them – and I especially look forward to them on days when breakfast is light on – this morning I had just had two stale slices of toast – with great coffee – and a bottled juice – not great to set you up for 18km) of Bercianos del Real Camino, I came across this…
(breathtaking, those poppies!)
(Our Lady of the Pears)
But soon it was break time! After a long, hot morning, there’s nothing like sitting in an airconditioned bar enjoying this:
(not the best coffee here but bonus cookie and cheap freshly squeezed orange juice!)
Though it’s tempting to stop for a while, I find that if I stop too long, it’s hard to get back at it, especially with 8km to go… With nothing in between the towns. And this…
I did spot my first (and only) sunflower on this day though!
(its always a pleasure walking alongside poppy fields!)
Heading into El Burgo Ranero (pop approx 800), there are signs of life…
but actually it’s a tiny town…
I took advantage of a particularly well stocked grocery store to replenish my snack supplies…
(this is called: fruit salad for lunch and make-your-own trail mix)
I also took advantage of a particularly quiet and cool hotel room to nap most of the day and drank a lot of water. Then went for a short wander and then this happened…
(realised only today that I could ASK for the olives to go with my beer…)
And then the World Cup was on (Belgium vs Brazil) and I moved from the bar to the “restaurant” and had a prime seat…
(also the largest glass of wine EVER).
Forewent the “rations”…
(Ear anyone? How about Tidy Olives?)
I went for the Pilgrim menu which featured some greens and fruit!
And also (you know it!)
(the thing about all these meals is, it’s way too much food just for me and I always feel bad but end up eating 1/2 of what they serve… Determined to get my Spanish back up to being able to ask for smaller serving sizes – happy to pay for the full amount, obviously, I just hate food waste – next year).
Two days to go on this year’s leg of the Camino – stay tuned!
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Disclosure: I researched Camino trips independently and chose the Camino Travel Center based on a number of features such as flexibility to accommodate a couple of “splits” in some of the longer days, price and customer service. They were, in fact the first company I came across in my very first Google search and the one I ended up booking with. From the initial inquiry to the actual trips, they have been a pleasure to deal with and we have been very impressed with the service provided (bag transportation) and the accommodation choices. I was not compensated to write about this trip in any way but I love sharing companies and products I believe in with my readers. I couldn’t recommend the Camino Travel Center more and, in fact, am booking another Camino walk with them for next summer (and every summer until I reach Santiago!).
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Nice account of the day, Mardi.