Day 19 - Sahagun to El Burgo Ranero

 

Iglesia de san Tirso.

Definitely a day of two halves, both blessedly short. After a reasonably early breakfast we got away before 7.30am.

The sun was rising over the bullring as we headed through town. We planned to take a slightly longer route through Sahagun so we could check out the large number of decaying churches and other buildings, some dating back more than a thousand years to the 9th century.

You get a real sense of history, but also of the declining power and influence of the Catholic church, as these ancient monuments crumble.

Arcos San Benito.

We especially like this arch, which must once have been an entrance to the old city.

Puente Canto, originally Roman, but reconstructed in the 11th and 16th centuries.

After a kilometre or so of sightseeing, we crossed the Rio Cea and set off on the next 11km to our morning tea destination, Bercianos.

Despite the forecast of heat, the early morning was reasonably cool, there was a bit of cloud cover and although the path was straight and followed a minor road most of the way, it was well shaded with mature trees. 

Often when hankering for a coffee stop, you're inclined to stop at the first bar - you often don't know if there's a second. However, in this instance, the owners of the second bar had advertised widely along the way, so we continued to there. After a nice coffee and fresh almond tart, we were ready for the 7km second stage.

We weren't so lucky on this stage. The sun came out, the trees were less mature (and on the wrong side of the path to provide shade) and the temperature climbed.

I reverted to my audio book - Turbulence - which I really enjoyed, and finished it off. We were still making good time, not so fast that we were in danger of aggravating old injuries. Our general health has been pretty good. I'd been plagued by hayfever symptoms including itching and streaming eyes, but had been regularly squirting an appropriate nasal spray and occasionally using eye drops, so those symptoms had settled down. Our insides were in less turmoil since we'd stopped drinking tap water and filled up with bottled water each day.

With the thermometer steadily rising, we arrived at our hotel about 12.30pm, had a shower and ate an enormous bocadillo for lunch. 

We've now walked for 19 days and have only 15 to go. In two days (both short and flat) we arrive in Leon for our third rest day. After that, things become a bit more challenging with more difficult terrain and some longer days.

Here's today's Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpZoZJNRq

Here's today's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/duToSPyRfgt85aq36

For today's music; once more I was caught without a song, as I was busy listening to a book. We had a conversation about how our brains were emptying out. No news, no Covid reports, no household tasks - nothing to do except walk. Since the path today was so incredibly straight, Cathie came up with this one: https://youtu.be/jh169rVMveA

Although she later thought Ring of Fire may be more appropriate. While I was searching for the link, I came across another favourite. So, on a bonus day, here's a second track: https://youtu.be/-zol906ltPU

Dinner with Donatela.

As a footnote, we had a nice dinner with Allan and Angela from New York. Later we were joined by Donatela, from Florence, who we have seen every day for a while.