Rachel has found a cheap train at 2pm out of Sahagun which is only 7.5 km from San Nicolas, so we are in no rush. We leave around 8:40 for a very uneventful walk. We are walking along the side of a road. We make it to Sahagun around 10 and go to the train station to buy tickets. The ticket desk is supposed to open at 9am, but there is no one there at 10:15. Some actual Spanish people were also trying to buy tickets, but they gave up and left. Rachel was determined and was banging on the window and yelling "Necesito billetes!" (I need tickets!). When we were just about to give up, when a guy finally wanders over to the window to help us. Rachel gets the tickets and the change that he gives us back equals only paying for one. He has already closed the window and walked back away by the time we figure this out. We take it as trail magic and evening out the times that it seems that we have been shorted on change. I don't know if counting is not important here or what, but quite often the amount that we are supposed to get back in change is off by a few cents, usually in the store's favor. I don't know if it is an intentional shorting or not, but it is not really worth it, nor are our language skills really good enough, to get our panties in a wad over less than a quarter.
So we have our tickets to Leon for a total cost of 4.33 Euros. What a deal. The town of Sahagun is not very impressive. It feels a bit gritty. We did find a nice cafe with a nice patio with trees to stop at. I had a Clara for the first time, but not the last. It is a mixture of beer and lemon soda. It is very refreshing and I will be drinking more of these. While at the cafe we meet a man from Canada who has yachted the intercoastal waterway. We also met a woman from Holland who was walking for the time being with the Canadian. We also see Andy here again. We start going though the guide books to readjust our schedule to shorten our daily distances and I am starting to get over skipping this 55 km section. The new schedule will allow for less distance and more breaks. Hopefully this will allow Rachel's feet to get better.
Rachel went to the farmacia and bought some stuff called Compeed for her blisters. It is supposed to be the best stuff ever for preventing and helping blisters to heal. We will see. Also, while waiting on the train, our pen died. I went all by myself and found a place and bought a pen. That was a big deal.
While waiting for the train we met 3 Canadians and a German woman. One of the Canadians had found ripe figs on a tree and shared. They were good. The Canadians are from Vancouver and told us that Vancouver is the most expensive city in Canada. Go figure that Rachel wants to move there. We also discussed languages with the German woman. Kids in Germany start to learn English at like 8 years old, then they learn French or Spanish in Middle School, then they learn the other one in high school. So they graduate knowing 3 foreign languages. The train to Leon was good. The tracks actually ran between the "road route" and the "river route" so we essentially saw what we would have seen anyway. We honestly didn't miss anything by not walking it. More flat, more road.
We decide to stay in a pension (kind of like a guest house I suppose. A few rooms with a couple of shared bathrooms and the owner lives in an apartment on the same floor). It should put us closer to the historical area and we can stay out as late as we want. Finding the cathedral and our pension was extremely difficult without a map or good communication skills. We wander around lost for about an hour. We find the square that the pension is supposed to be on, but can't find it. A gentleman stops and asks if we need help, we show him the address and he points us to the other side of the square. Of course at this point Rachel also notices that in our book it tells us that the entrance for the place is on one of the side streets. Rachel calls up from the street and talks to the owner and we get a room for 30 Euros. We take showers and head out to explore the city. We go to the Cathedral and tour it. It is free to go inside this one. It is Rachel's favorite because it has tons of stained glass. I think it is my favorite so far too. I like how it wasn't chopped up like the one in burgos. The statues and carvings are amazing.
We walk around the historic district for awhile. We couldn't go too long with Rachel's feet bothering her. We get patata bravas at two different places and neither is as good as what we get at Eclipse de Luna in Atlanta. One had sort of a sour cream sauce, but it was good, just different. The other was like fries tossed in Texas Pete according to Rachel. We had some beers and then wen to have "churros and chocolate". Churros are like donuts and the chocolate is sort of like a melted Hershey bar. Rachel says that this is like their equivalent to Waffle House after a night out on the town. We found the chocolate too sweet and heavy. We won't be getting that again.
The Plaza Mayor here is amazing. The street surface is marble and has very cool buildings. Rachel got some good night shots. After another beer we decide to call it a night at 10:30. On the way back I feel like a guy is starting to follow us a little too much for my liking. We end up darting into a Burger King of all places. He certainly sped up as we were making a break for it. Not sure if it was really a problem, but better safe than sorry. Rachel didn't notice him until I mentioned to her that it seemed like he was following. Overall Leon was really nice.
