Day 14 // Calzadilla de la Crueza – Bercianos del Real Camino // 33.5 km

Today again, we are waking up early and leaving the auberge at 5.30 AM. These yellow stripes in the mornings are magical.

Every morning we try to see something new, something different, because the day before and today the road or the nature is not very exciting. Sunflowers now feel like an everyday thing and are not catching my breath anymore. But a sunflower and a moon together is something new.

As we entered the city, I entertained the Italians with my improvised rap in English.

I don’t want any new blister
I just wanna see my mister
I am going to drink a tee
Later I will need to pee. 

As we were walking a sign gets our attention. But a lesson learned before - always pick the first bar, because there is an opportunity that the next one is going to be closed. And walking back even 10 meters is too much and no one wants to do that.

We see that we are approaching the first city - Sahagun, but the pilgrims way takes us there with a huge detour. 

It is only because there is a super tiny, beautiful church, where we get a nice stamp for our pilgrims passports. The church lady asked us where are we from - 'Latvia' Que? - 'Lettonia' OH! Everyone understands that.

There is a nice rest stop with metallic (aka cold) constructions, where we can rest our legs.

Next to the church is a gate which signify halfway for those who started their journey in Roncesvalles - the place where we ended our first day and started our second one.

People who started at St Jean pied de Port (same place as I did) and are going until the Santiago Cathedral, got done with their first half of the journey yesterday. If my legs won’t fail me, I’ll reach halfway tomorrow. The end point of my journey is Finisterre, Oceanside. They used to think this was the edge of the world, that’s how the place got the name. But geographically, Portugal is 16.5 km further in the ocean, so it beats this peninsula. Most of the pilgrims choose to take the bus journey from Santiago, but some choose to hike - I’ll be one of them. It is a must-see place. On top of that, it has a lot of traditions, for example, the pilgrims must get rid of the clothes or shoes they did the whole Camino with. 

We ate lunch from the pilgrims menu at Sahagun and after that I feel like taking the world’s biggest/longest nap. I almost fell asleep right there on a chair in the sun, but I have to keep going and get done with 10 more kilometers. It was as if I was sleepwalking. Can one fall asleep while walking? I thought that it is possible. 

The heat is getting worse and after 3 PM we reach the auberge. Tonight we’re living a little fancy - double and triple rooms, each with a private bathroom. We felt so much joy when we saw towels and toiletries on the bed. Just like in a hotel.

We freshen up and go to the store. I finally feel ready to overeat watermelon and that is exactly what I ended up doing.  

It is nice to see that my bookmark is right in the middle of the Santiago guidebook. And tomorrow I’ll be halfway done. The book says there’s 357 kilometers left till Santiago + 87 kilometers till Finisterre. And today marks exactly 2 weeks since I’ve been on this journey. Buen Camino! 

With love!