Today I discovered...

Well we all have a day from time to time when we plan to do things that just don't work out. There are lovely posters at the Albergue here in Sahagun which advertise the highlights of this historic town. As I soon found out, you can see them all, but not on a Monday when they are all "Cerrado". So it has been a little more restful than I planned. So a nice "cafe con leche" in Taberna San  Miguel in the Plaza Mayor followed by Tortilla and "Cola Cao" -hot chocolate with some fellow pilgrims was the order of the day.

There is always another day to explore, fortunately I will have some time in the morning for that.

The photos give a flavour of the town.







Popular posts from this blog

A candle burns...

Image
In a peaceful ancient walled town in the Pyrenees candles burn, their holiness and their power seems enhanced by the walls and the atmosphere of the place. The image of Our Lady watching over them as much as the pilgrim gazes quickly, or reflectively, or at the least wondering perhaps, as his or her candle is lit. This is the first church along The Way after "signing in" at the Pilgrim Bureau. From here it is onwards towards Santiago, which seems a distant dream. For whom do the candles burn? Who will join their yearnings with mine? Who will follow? Who will feel blessed by God's response? Who wishes that they too could be doing such a thing right now? Questions, questions,questions, is this not the way life itself always is? As human beings we yearn for answers, we seek after "truth". Me, today, I pray that I may have what I need for the journey, that I may not be a burden to others and that those whom I love and who love me may be kept safe, and that all...
Read more

Carrion de Los Condes - further reflection

Image
The Albergue we stayed at was serviced by nuns attached to the parish church. In the early evening they invited any pilgrims who wished to join them for an hour in the garden. We were asked to introduce ourselves briefly, name, where we were from and what expectation we had or reason we had for walking the Camino. As you may expect these varied a lot. There were many nationalities represented. This experience turned out to be a whole lot more moving than I guess had been expected. When the lady next to me spoke giving her name and Ukraine as her country of origin there was a slight pause and then spontaneous applause. I wonder what that sign of solidarity meant to her? A few minutes later the nuns asked if anyone had a song to offer. A guy from Texas offered and took a guitar from one of the nuns and began to play " By the rivers of Babylon" in a blues style. He taught us the tune and we sang it several times. He had no idea what the origins of the song was. One of the nuns e...
Read more

Roncesvalles to Zubiri

Image
Here is a lovely picture of Burgette  Church in the snow, although you can call today really "rain day" as that it what it became. So rain kilt, gaiters and rucksack covers on. All road work again as the paths were too risky. Plenty of water taken and regularly consumed. There were beautiful views, snow covered trees and stuff. After my attempts at passing out the previous day my companions were helping me pace and ensuring we had adequate breaks. Around half way, at Viskarret a very small one room bar was found. Time to rest, a hot chocolate and an omelette with bread. Perfecto. One of my companions was clearly not well so was going to taxi the last part. The Senora running the bar was having no luck getting a taxi, so he decided to try the supermercado. My other companion suggested I might pray for our onward journey. I did, invoking the saints... Santa Maria ora pro nobis, Sant Iago ora pro nobis, San Miguel ora pro nobis... at which point the previously mentioned ...
Read more