Ceri: Last night we stayed in such a strange hotel on the outskirts of Sahagun. It reminded us of the Jack Nicholson film The Shining. Long empty corridors with no one around. Huge empty banqueting rooms with no sign of staff. When we arrived we stood in the huge space rather bewildered, when suddenly, up pops Manuel from Fawlty Towers, jumping all over the place to welcome us. He had very little English so between us we found a rather strange looking receptionist with staring eyes, who seemed to appear suddenly from a cupboard. Neil reckoned she was the wicked lady in a Bond Film with deathly spikes in her shoes, but actually, she was really nice and helpful. Those 2 were the only staff we encountered during our stay in this enormous hotel. At breakfast, we met 2 other couples who’d made exactly the same comparison with the film. We were all on our way to Santiago and our laughter must have echoed through the vast breakfast room. Manuel (we never got his real name) continued to charge around happy to please everyone. We all adored him. Most of the walking Peligrinos stayed in the centre of town but this was the only hotel room we could find late in the day. We ended up swapping numbers with a lovely New York couple over breakfast. We hope we meet them again, but who knows?
Our road followed the walking path. I knew it was an extremely popular challenge, but seeing so many people striding out was a unique experience. Short, tall, old, young, slim, big, all on their individual journeys. Mostly singles or couples and I’d say 70-80% were our generation from all over the world. Many had strapped knees. Hats off to every single one of them. It’s a tough walk.
We met a charismatic Brit , probably aged 60ish, walking in bare feet! He entertained us with endless stories. The walkers keep bumping into each other along the way and friendships form. It’s lovely to watch and we’re having a great time meeting them.
The cycling to Leon was easy, although misty and chilly when we set out. Now we have 2 nights in Leon which appears to be a fascinating city. It will be our first day in 3 weeks in which we haven’t mounted our bikes which are safely locked away. (I’ll probably add to this post later this evening. )
Ceri's Blog with Neil 