Calzadilla de la Cueza to Sahagun

.When we woke up this morning, first thing we did is look out the window.  Was it raining?  Was it blowing to beat the band?  None of the above - for which we said a prayer of thanks!

As we were about to leave for the day, we spotted 2 Scot guys in kilts!  They are walking the whole Camino in traditional kilts, and they confirmed that they were indeed wearing the kilts traditionally - that means nothing but kilts.  When asked about the day before, however, they admitted that the wind forced them to cover their butts in a more customary way.  Don't worry, you'll never see me in a kilt!

It was so good to have a day without wind and rain, even though the temperature was quite low, and we kept on coats and gloves for almost all of the morning.  You can see the joy on Diane's and Chris' faces...

...as we leave Calzadilla de la Cueva behind...

As we've mentioned before, a yellow painted arrow found on all sorts of surfaces (roads side of buildings, trees, road signs) is our most common way marker...

...but someone took a lot of time to get creative and really rocked to put together a whole new way marker...

It was a pleasant day all around, and we just enjoyed the peace and quiet of the surrounding hills and valleys...

Along the way we met a fellow creature who would probably require a lot more than 40 days to complete the Camino!

We also discovered how people in this part of Spain stored their wine.  The big hump you see in the long shot covers several wine cellars, and the 2 pictures following show a couple of different set of entrances to these cellars...

We were reminded too, and not for the first time along the Camino, that life itself is a way and a pilgrimage and that here we have not yet arrived, but look forward to the city of God that has foundations.  

But for others, such as ourselves and this farmer busy cutting alfalfa for silage on his fields, life here goes on...

 

...and we are reminded to be sure to smell the roses (or broom, or lavender) as we go along as gifts of a gracious and loving Heavenly Father who clothes the flowers of the fields and cares even more for us...

As we approach our destination for the day, the city of Sagahun (pop. 170,000), we take a detour and discover this old bridge and an ancient pilgrim hostel in the background currently under restoration...

The big highlight of the day is that we reached the halfway point of the traditional El Camino Santiago in the village of Terradillos de Los Templarios, where we celebrated with a big glass of cafe con leche and a croissant, neither of which contribute to any significant weight loss but sure taste good!

Distance today: 22.7 kms

Time on the road: 5:35

Total distance to date: 416.6 kms

Walking days remaining: 18