Sahagun to Calzadilla de Los Hermanillos

First off, a major correction.  I mentioned yesterday that the city of Sahagun had a population of 170,000.  I based that on the bible of the Camino, written by John Brierley, who turns out to be badly wrong.  We couldn't figure out where all those people were, and checking via Google it turns out the actual population is around 3000.  But boy, they made enough noise for 170,000.  It just so happens that there was a wedding reception at the hostal where we stayed.  And it was loud!  The music went on until 1:00 a.m., and then the party goers went outside, sang some more, and let off fireworks that sounded like the town was being bombed.  So no sleep until 2:00 a.m.  And then very little after that, as our rooms were cold, the blankets were inadequate, the beds were short, and all in all this was the worst place we had stayed by far.  The only creatures truly comfortable in this place were the relatives of this critter which I slew in our hallway...gross!!

So be sure to avoid the Hostal La Cordoniz if you ever find yourself in Sahagun, Spain!

And about that wedding...when we left the hostal at 8:30 after a breakfast whose quality was consistent with the quality of the rest of the place, who did we run into but the bride and a number of her guests.  They had been up all night.  She gave us permission to take a picture of her and her mom and a bridesmaid...she was not sure where her new husband was...

Leaving the town, we admired the town gate...

...took an official peregrine picture of Diane...

...crossed another fine example of an ancient Roman bridge...

...and we're amazed at the amount of cottonwood on the ground as well as in the air.  Anyone with allergies to cottonwood should not be on the Camino in the month of May.  It is as thick as snow...

We came across another poppy field, and could not resist having Jeff take our picture there, as we took the same photo of him and Chris...

The weather today looked pretty threatening at first...

...but as the day progressed those dark clouds disappeared and we saw a fair bit of sun.  The trail we were on for the first part of the day looked mostly like this...

Now much earlier I mentioned that it was almost impossible to get lost on the Camino, but we found out today that it was indeed possible.  There was a junction point about 5 kms., where you had to choose between 2 separate paths which led to 2 separate destinations which would only meet again the following day, where we had to take a right turn rather than continue straight ahead.  We missed it because of the number of people in front of us blocking the signs, and it was almost a whole km. before fellow friends from Surrey, Arlene and Joyce, met us going the other way and told us of our error.  Fortunately for us, they had realized the mistake and saved us some mileage, as well as our place to stay for this coming night, but it still cost us approx. 2 kms.   We took solace in the only small village in existence on our way - where we again were amazed at the number of stork nests - and relaxed over coffees while we laughed at our mistake.  

From here on, we followed a wide track to our destination for this day....

Along the way there was a lot of lavender and heather...

...and an indication of another pilgrim who had given up on his footwear...

We are now in a very clean, pretty, and quiet casa rural run by a very friendly couple who are going out of their way to make us feel welcome.  A wonderful change from our experience of the last 2 nights!  We enjoyed a delicious lunch of soup and bread and wine, and look forward to a good and quiet night's rest.

Distance today: 15.9 kms (was supposed to be 13.9 - our shortest day!)

Time on the road: 5:10

Total distance to date:432.5 kms

Walking days remaining: 17