Day 19 - Calzadilla de la Cueza to Sahagun

We had a long and restful afternoon and evening in Calzadilla de la Cueza.

It was made longer by the fact that the town was tiny, and it was hot, and there was absolutely nothing to do but to (i) read a book, (ii) watch Caminos walk into town and then leave, or (iii) sit in the bar and watch hollywood movies dubbed with Spanish.

As the afternoon was so long we did a little of each of these.

Not many people stayed in Calzadilla de la Cueza but we chatted awhile with some of those that did. 

One pair, two grandmothers from Hungary, were walking their third Camino. This time they cycled from Hungary to Geneva and then walked from Geneva. A formidable journey. 

The hotel we stayed in was basic but totally adequate and the owner and his staff were absolutely fantastic. Dinner, which was early, at 7:30pm, was great and breakfast was served from 6am, the earliest we have seen in Spain so far. 

The fact that breakfast was served from 6am helped in the planning of our day today, as I had to have a Board meeting in the European morning.

This meant we would have had to delay our start until after the Board meeting, or walk early to arrive at our destination mid-morning, prior to the start of the Board meeting.

We were able to do the latter.


Our walk today was 21km and took 3h31m for an average pace, door to door, of 6.0km/hr. This is a record average pace for us.


The walk was more interesting than previous days as we had the transition from moon-light to day-break to morning sun. We also had a change in scenery and the track was a winding track up numerous hills and around numerous valleys.


Having arrived in Sahagun by 10am, we completed the Board meeting and got changed with plenty of time left before siesta time to visit the town and its numerous notable buildings.


We also had the opportunity to great many Caminos that we knew who were walking on from Sahagun to the next town and where only half way through their day's 20-25km walk.

Sahagun has many wonderful buildings and a bustling city centre. The city is not one of the normal Camino stops but, if you do the Camino, we recommend that you schedule an overnight stay here.


The hotel we are staying at is in the main plaza and is so small that, at first, we walked straight passed it.

The hotel though is very nice with a good sized room, great coffee downstairs, and a very good restaurant.

We normally have a simple lunch but today we opted to order from the restaurant menu. 

We had a shared salad followed by a shared cuarto lachazo asado (roasted quarter suckling lamb) all washed down with two glasses of Crianza and a bottle of agua con gas. 

Absolutely fantastic. 

We have now had enough meet for a week and when we finish the blog intend to start sleeping it off. 

Tomorrow, we start the five leg of our Camino, which comprises three short days of walking from Sahagun to Leon. 

Tomorrow's walk is only 18km, followed by 22km on Wednesday and 18km on Thursday.

Many of the Caminos that we have talked to are planning on staying an extra day at Leon but we will push on.