- Time of past OR future Camino
- Many, various, and continuing.
Hola, pilgrims.
Sahagun, the market town in the middle of the Meseta, is gearing up for its big fiesta and is swarming with pilgrims these days. There are some recent changes and improvements you should be aware of.
* Don´t forget there are THREE pilgrim albergues in town, as well as a good selection of hostals. The albergues include La Trinidad, the classic church-done-over-as-hangarlike-dormitory, ViaToris, the new and heavily-promoted albergue by the bullring on the leading edge of town (with its own set of yellow arrows!) and the little-known but very nice summertime albergue at the Madres Benedictinas novitiate, on the route heading out of town. (just keep following the arrows and you´ll come right to the door on the right.)
All three have things to offer as well as drawbacks. I am partial to the Sisters, having volunteered there a time or two, but they suffer from an overkill of church bells at all hours. ViaToris has all kinds of web access and battery-charging capability, and the owners are from a long line of pilgrim hospitaleros, but it´s not dead in the center of town. La Trinidad can get overcrowded and seedy, and the municipal auditorium is downstairs, which means noise on certain nights.
Sahagun is also upgrading its food offerings. Right next to La Trinidad and ViaToris is a little cafe called Robles, under new management and offering an excellent menu del dia as well as this week´s football action. Downtown, just across from the magazine kiosk, is La Trebede, a brand-new bar that serves a genuine hamburger with everything! If you want a real gourmet treat, try El Ruedo in the Plaza Mayor, where the lechazo (Castilian roast lamb) is as good as it gets. And for the best working-man´s lunch around, go to El Peregrino, where the guys restoring the La Peregrina church (across the road) all go for their menu del dia. The trout are lovely when you can get them.
If you come into town on Saturday morning you´ll walk right into the street market. Here you can buy queso curado (hard-cured cheese, the sharp kind that travels well) from Cerrato, a Palencian district just to the south. Cerrato cheese is being discovered now by the famous/fab Basque chefs, so you oughtta try it now, before it all disappears into the Impossibly Expensive Foodie Vacuum.
No, I am not paid to promote this place. I just like it a lot, and I feel it is overlooked because it´s a working farm town, not a knock-out gorgeous place bristling with historic monuments.
I wish I could meet you all in Sahagun for a nose around!
REbekah
Sahagun, the market town in the middle of the Meseta, is gearing up for its big fiesta and is swarming with pilgrims these days. There are some recent changes and improvements you should be aware of.
* Don´t forget there are THREE pilgrim albergues in town, as well as a good selection of hostals. The albergues include La Trinidad, the classic church-done-over-as-hangarlike-dormitory, ViaToris, the new and heavily-promoted albergue by the bullring on the leading edge of town (with its own set of yellow arrows!) and the little-known but very nice summertime albergue at the Madres Benedictinas novitiate, on the route heading out of town. (just keep following the arrows and you´ll come right to the door on the right.)
All three have things to offer as well as drawbacks. I am partial to the Sisters, having volunteered there a time or two, but they suffer from an overkill of church bells at all hours. ViaToris has all kinds of web access and battery-charging capability, and the owners are from a long line of pilgrim hospitaleros, but it´s not dead in the center of town. La Trinidad can get overcrowded and seedy, and the municipal auditorium is downstairs, which means noise on certain nights.
Sahagun is also upgrading its food offerings. Right next to La Trinidad and ViaToris is a little cafe called Robles, under new management and offering an excellent menu del dia as well as this week´s football action. Downtown, just across from the magazine kiosk, is La Trebede, a brand-new bar that serves a genuine hamburger with everything! If you want a real gourmet treat, try El Ruedo in the Plaza Mayor, where the lechazo (Castilian roast lamb) is as good as it gets. And for the best working-man´s lunch around, go to El Peregrino, where the guys restoring the La Peregrina church (across the road) all go for their menu del dia. The trout are lovely when you can get them.
If you come into town on Saturday morning you´ll walk right into the street market. Here you can buy queso curado (hard-cured cheese, the sharp kind that travels well) from Cerrato, a Palencian district just to the south. Cerrato cheese is being discovered now by the famous/fab Basque chefs, so you oughtta try it now, before it all disappears into the Impossibly Expensive Foodie Vacuum.
No, I am not paid to promote this place. I just like it a lot, and I feel it is overlooked because it´s a working farm town, not a knock-out gorgeous place bristling with historic monuments.
I wish I could meet you all in Sahagun for a nose around!
REbekah