Meseta sunrise, halfway!, & shells. 30 k from Ledigos to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos

Today I passed the official halfway point on the Camino de Santiago Francès.  That means that, so far, I've walked close to 250 miles on this trip.  Meseta treeless views gave way to some oak and poplar forest today. It was a long ~19 mile walk today but not hard. 

Today's topic is the ubiquitous scallop shells you see on the Camino. It is the symbol of the Camino because all the ridges of the shell lead to the same point just like all the different Camino paths lead to Santiago de Compostela. The scallop shell or "la concha" is on every Camino sign, it's used for soap holders & ash trays, and almost every pilgrim has one tied on their backpack. I got mine at the start, San Jean Pied de Port, at the pilgrim's office. About two weeks in, I noticed that mine had disappeared, so I bought another at a church in Castrojediz.  

Meseta sunrise -

The halfway market in Sahagún -

My backpack with my new shell -

Other shells -
I took the Roman way to the right (north) taking me on a two day detour away from the main path. -

I'm not exactly sure why we had clown noses but it was still kind of funny  -

I've been enjoying looking at the agriculture along the Camino. Today I believe I passed sugar beets -
Today's walk -

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