Our Walk Along the Camino de Madrid

Two days ago we finished our walk on the 322 km long Camino Madrid, walking from Spain's capital city to Sahagun, a town on the Camino Francés.  We have spent the past two days walking 55.3 km from Sahagun to Léon on the Camino Francés, making an overnight stop in Mansanilla de las Mullas along the way. Essentially we are simply connecting two routes - the Camino Madrid and the Camino San Salvador , but we have been curious about what our second time on the Camino Frances would be like.  It was an interesting experience.   We first walked the Camino Frances in 2016 , and we've come to the realization that both the Camino and we have changed since we first ventured out here.  We see now that we were incredibly fortunate to have walked this way at the right time in our lives.  It felt like a great big adventure, full of meaning and magic, and it changed the course of our lives.  It feels different to us now, and perhaps like it isn't the place for us at the present time.  We

Well, today we finished the Camino Madrid portion of our pilgrimage, and I feel the ending was entirely perfect - the albergues and bars were 'cerrado' right up until the very end.  Nonetheless, it was a beautiful walk, the weather was gorgeous, and it was a phenomenal wildlife day.   We left the albergue just as the sun was rising, being careful not to wake the hospitaleros, who were out late last night.  We made our way to the centre of town, hoping to find breakfast, but nothing was open yet, and there were no signs that anything was about to open in the near future.  Once again, we set off down the trail with empty bellies, hoping to find breakfast somewhere along the way.  We followed the winding red dirt trail out into rolling fields of brown, green, and yellow.  The slanting golden rays of the rising sun were illuminating the young green crops and creating curving shadows across the rolling hills.  The sky was a clear blue, the air was cool and still, and the only sounds