Yesterday, May 5, we caught a 7:45 am train from Palencia to Sahagún. It’s a 45 minute train ride.
Sahagún was where we had originally planned to end our Camino and where we had mailed our suitcase containing things we only needed for the last week in Zamora and on the airplane. We needed to go to Sahagún to pick up the suitcase.
The Spanish Post Office does a great service for pilgrims letting you mail things from one PO on the Camino to another for decent rates.
Our return train to Palencia didn’t leave till 3:15 so we had several hours to spend in Sahagún.
I’m pretty sure we saw at least 200 pilgrims while we were there. Sahagún is the exact midway point on the Camino Frances: half way between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and Santiago.
A lovely young employee in the PO gave us our bag and then I, with some trepidation, asked “would it be possible to leave it here with you while we are out for the day”. She didn’t hesitate one bit but said “of course”. She told us we had to get it before the PO closed at 2:30 and not to come when she’d be on her break between 1:00 and 1:15. We were glad not to have to lug the suitcase around with us all day.
We then asked for a recommendation for where to eat breakfast and another woman in the PO, a customer, walked us outside and showed us where to go. She didn’t lead us wrong. We had a most enjoyable breakfast.
After breakfast, we headed out on the Camino. Yep, that was our plan for the day. We didn’t walk too far, about 4 miles out and 4 miles back. I counted the pilgrims we passed when walking back to town: 92 peregrinos and 7 bicigrinos (bicycle pilgrims). This was mid-day. We were surprised to see so many that time of day.
On the Camino, you seldom see pilgrims heading any way but in the same direction you are walking: west. Nearly everyone smiled at us and said “hola” and most had a quizzical look in their eye like “huh, why are you walking the wrong way? You don’t look like locals.”
I’ve always thought that the modern Camino misses an important point: in the Middle Ages when you got to Santiago you were only half way. You had to turn around and go home. Probably many didn’t, but just settled into a new life.
The long separation from family and the uncertainty that you (assuming a male here) would even return probably led to many a wife taking a new “husband” (in the Middle Ages did peasants even get formally married?).
Though completely unrelated, it reminds me of the movie “The Return of Martin Guerre.” I’m sure Grubb has seen it.
Hi Henry, just realized I didn’t respond to this comment.
There is quite a bit of mention on the Camino forum that we read about how the medieval pilgrims had to return home after getting to Santiago. You do occasionally see someone walking back home these days, but it is rare. Of course, it’s much more difficult to walk backwards because the arrows go just one way and are not placed in places you might see them if you are going the “wrong” way.
I remember seeing “The Return of Martin Guerre” when it first came out and loving it, and also being in love with Gerard Depardieu. Man was he handsome at that young age. I wonder if the movie would hold up seeing it again.
Don’t know if the movie would hold up, but think so, since it wasn’t set in modernish times, when a few years passage of time makes things seem dated. However… Depardieu has been in a lot of legal trouble. This from a quick Google search “As of May 2026, French actor Gérard Depardieu has faced significant legal repercussions regarding allegations of sexual misconduct, including a criminal conviction and orders to stand trial for separate rape accusations.”
Hate to hear that. I had noticed that he has not aged well.