The Meseta... Is Kinda Pretty?

I had another early start, as I had to make over 35km. The upside was that, unlike yesterday, I did not have to do it again the following day. I set out, expecting a hard day full of more sore feet, monotonous meseta, and uncomfortable (if productive) thinking time. That was not, however, what the day had in store for me.

I left Sahagún, and by the time the sun was coming up had covered a fair bit of ground. I walked under some sort of AC-duct arch, then stopped for breakfast. Leaving town I saw a very energetic white horse, heard flocks of birds singing, read a bunch of encouraging graffiti under a bridge, and felt like I'd stepped into a different world.

The shadows of clouds drifted lazily over rolling yellow hills of wheat, as I walked under a line of trees, their leaves just beginning to turn, a brisk fall breeze rustling through their branches. It seemed as if the rain yesterday had signaled the end of summer and beginning of autumn, and the high speed train whizzing past in the distance felt like a vision of the future, while I walked through a memory of the past. It was still more Meseta, but this time I almost didn't want it to end.

Eventually I stopped to wait for my friends to catch up for lunch, and we met a very audacious little cat who kept trying to steal our meat. Lucky for him, he was very cute. We walked the last few kilometers into town together, then split up to go to our albergues.

Everyone else was exhausted, but I decided to wander the city and see what I could find. I ended up buying some snacks at the supermarket, then popping in to an albergue that said they were about to start serving dinner. Inside, I unexpectedly ran into a couple I'd met a few days prior, and we had dinner together and chatted.

After that, it was off to bed, but this time knowing only a short day awaited tomorrow.