Halfway There (and Living on a Prayer)

October 7

Our taxi takes us past what author Brierly describes as a “flat, featureless" stage of the Camino, to Terradillos de Templarios.  It barely takes half an hour.

From the albergue where we've been dropped off, we begin our walk for the day.  We reach Moratinos sooner than expected and have no desire to wake Rebecca before 9 a.m. on a Sunday.  I feel fairly confident, with my supplies and antibiotics, that I can take care of my feet; and Jerri wouldn't let anything serious come of the blisters.  With my assurance to Jerri that I'm up for it, we press onward.

 

Today there is a bit of excitement: we pass through Sahagún, the self-proclaimed halfway point of the Camino (Brierley says the halfway point is Terradillos de los Templarios).  We had been doing the "halfway" math ourselves, along with how many kilometers per day we have to do, backtracking from Santiago on October 21, to determine when we'll need to be in Sarria in order to finish the last 100 km on foot. (Any day we don't walk 30 km increases the distance per day we have to walk thereafter.)  Sometimes working out the numbers like this is disheartening.

In any case, we have made it halfway to somewhere and that feels like quite an accomplishment.

 

After lunch, the sun beats down on us and the surrounding landscape of nothingness, and the flies are aggressive and relentless.  We do enter a new state: Palencia.

 

And out in the middle of the nothing is a small church being renovated...

 

...with some funky benches/seats on the opposite side of the path.  

 

Such distractions notwithstanding, my body cries out constantly to stop, and saying decades of the Rosary only barely keeps my mind off the pain.

 

Another pair of abandoned boots just adds to the bleakness.

So, when we finally enter Calzadilla de los Hermanillos (our goal at the top of the map) and a lovely, private albergue beckons, I offer to splurge.  I really don't care what amenities it might have; I just want to be done for the day.  Some days you fare better than others.  This is not a stellar day, but I have done as promised--I showed up and put one foot in front of the other (yes, the Kris Kringle song does come to mind) to the best of my ability for today.

 

Total distance walked: 26.9 km

Total distance rode: 26.8 km   :-(