We stayed in the Hostal Domus Viatoris, a comfortable and basic 2-star hotel on the outskirts of town.
The view from my room was nothing to write home about. Before settling down yesterday we walked up to the Santuario de la Virgen Peregrina to receive our certificate for getting to the half way point of the Camino. There was a bus load of Taiwanese tourists arriving for their certificate, so we had to hustle up the path to get there in front of them and avoid a long queue.
It was about 1c when we left this morning, but the sun was shining and the skies were blue, which took the edge off the temperature. Immediately outside the hotel was the Plaza de Torros and then we walked past an abandoned disco with its natty circular motifs and the Arco de San Benito before coming to the Puente Canto.
Out of town now, we crossed the River Cea and began a long walk beside the road, on a path lined with poplar trees. There was not much in the way of diversity to look at – blue skies, the occasional town on the other side of the road and some wetland areas to our left.
We passed an abandoned church, now being used as a pilgrim picnic area before walking through the town of Bercianos del Real Camino. Apart from the town seeming to be deserted, it was interesting to see (and touch) the old adobe (clay and straw) walls as we passed through. The fields, and crop plantings, seem to be quite behind, time wise, those we have spent the last couple of weeks walking past.
There were a few consolidated bunches of poppies which gave some colour to the surroundings. We then passed a wetland area where the main sounds to be heard were frogs croaking and Great Reed Warblers singing. Finally as we walked under both the main road and railway line there was a huge bunch of Spanish Broom chaperoning us into El Burgo Ranero where we spent a delightful couple of hours, sitting in the sun, chatting to fellow peregrinos, before getting our taxi back to Sahagũn.
