Vending Machine Hamburgers

This morning when I woke up I had to decide whether or not I wanted to walk 13km or 28km. After a long debate with myself, I thought it best to have a shorter day of walking. So, after a mere three hours I arrived in Sahagún, a much larger and much nicer city than the one I stayed in yesterday...at least there are proper cafés here! When I started out this morning, I knew it wasn't going to be a very scenic route (it was mostly along the highway) so I wasn't too excited to start out, but, the Clupknee family walked past me just as I was eating breakfast so I knew I would get to see and talk with them along the way. The Clupknee's are walking to raise money for those with Parkinsons disease - Carol, one of the ladies has Parkinsons but she still manages to walk the camino most days which I think is incredible and just goes to show that with a little determination and hard work, you can achieve anything! Anyways, I took my time today because I was in no rush to make it to the next city, and I didn't want to arrive too early. After a second breakfast of sorts with the Clupknee's, we said our goodbyes because they were planning on walking the full 28km. But I thought it was very nice when one the the guys (I forget who it was that said it) but they said to me that "I hope we see you again Matthew, but if we don't, we will still see you again". And it's true. You never know with the camino, if something is meant to be, then it will happen at somepoint along the way. Who knows, our paths may cross back in North America. Afterwards, I finally checked into my albergue and decided to do my grocery shopping for tomorrow, however, I have come to realize that everything is closed on Sundays. So all I had for breakfast tomorrow were a few sunflower seeds, a piece of bread, and my last fibre bar. Yum. It was extremely hot today as well, and I know I have been complaining about the cold, but I would rather the weather be balanced than going from one extreme to the next! I did some sightseeing but then I had to find a shady area where I could get a drink. I went back to the same cafe I had breakfast at, ordered myself two calimochos, and enjoyed the laid back atmosphere. I also ended up talking with this girl Caroline from Germany. I was so happy when I discovered that Caroline is a huge fan of FRIENDS. We spent most of the afternoon talking about our favorite episodes and reenacting funny scenes. Our schedules are fairly similar too so I will be swing a lot more of her. Now, I was pretty hungry during the afternoon but I only wanted something cheap to eat. But because the markets were closed, my only option was to eat out...that is, until I saw "the vending machine" across the street from the cafe I was sitting in. This was no ordinary vending machine. It didn't sell peanuts, or chips, or candy, no, it sold hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken wings, and grilled cheese. Mmmmmm, hot meat coming from a vending machine on the side of the road...I won't lie, I was tempted to purchase a burger or something, but the fear of being poisoned was enough to stop me from eating hot vending machine meat. And, who knows how long that food is in their for, and how the heck do they microwave it from within a machine?! Too many questions to answer before I would dare eat anything. I ended up splurging on a half decent pork chop for dinner, at least I knew it came from an actual kitchen. All in all, a very enjoyable day. Come Wednesday I will arrive in León and take another rest day. I am really excited because on the Wednesday and Thursday that I will be in León they are celebrating the San Juan and San Pedro festivals which consist of parades, carnivals, fireworks, bullfights, AND, running of the bulls!! I am really really excited! But, the festival is a week long so I hope some of the exciting things happen on the days I am there, otherwise I may have to stay in León on the Friday as well. Anyways, bye for now!