We are definitely getting stronger. Yesterday, Sally talked about how easy a day she had after walking 11.4 miles. Today, we did about the same and the result was the same. We are talking about upping our distances just a bit. Of course, a few more miles tacked onto a day might might turn them from “easy” to “hard”. We will find out going forward.
As in all adventures, iPhone apps play a big part. Up to now I have been relying on Guthook and Gaia to navigate, but two nights ago as we were talking with Gotfried, I noticed he was using a different app “Buen Camino”. I downloaded it and began playing around. It has some wonderful features to help us plan how far to walk and what is at the end for accommodations. Combining all three, along with Google Maps, has given us excellent tools to plan our days. We also use iBooks to access “Rick Steves’ Spain” and our guide to the Camino “Walking Guide to the Camino de Santiago” along with communication tools “WhatsApp”, “Messages”, “Mail” and “Google Translate”. As always, the phone is an indispensable tool.
Today we were up at 4:55am and downstairs by 5:05. In the kitchen, I reheated some soup from last night for my breakfast. I cut a nectarine for each of us and laid out two hard boiled eggs for Sally. As we prepared and ate, half a dozen pilgrims joined us in preparing to get underway. We were not particularly quick and it was 6:05 before we were out the door.
It was another spectacular morning. Stars. Cold temperatures. Quiet. Beautiful. We had a long stretch by Camino standards to the first town, 7 miles. We had over 4 done by the time the sun rose. The ground was flat but for a dip into, then out of small creeks every mile or so. The dips dropped about 70 feet over a quarter mile, rising at the same rate.
At 7 miles we entered Reliegos. A new albergue had been built on the outskirts of this Winlock sized town and we stopped from a morning Coke. We had considered going further into town for our morning repast, but it was a good thing we did not because this was the only stop on the route.
We only had about 4 miles left for the day and were both feeling great. As we walked we realized we really didn’t know the whole significance of this pilgrimage and maybe we should educate ourselves. As we walked along the path paralleling a highway I read about the history of Saint James. In short, he was one of Jesus’ first disciples, was beheaded by King Herod in Judah in 44AD and is the patron saint of pilgrimages and Spain. Because he came to the Iberian Peninsula and spread Christianity his body was carried back to Santiago and buried there. Early Christians were required to pilgrimage to the site of his body to earn admission to heaven. So this walk has been going on for much longer than 1000 years.
Although the early pilgrims had to walk the whole way, we have options. Today, we exercised one of those options. Rather than walk along a major highway and then through suburbs and the busy city streets of Leon, we decided to bus from our destination city of the day, Mansilla de las Mulas into Leon and spend the night there. Since we usually finish walking before noon we reasoned that taking a bus after walking would give us the afternoon to explore the city and the legendary cathedral of Leon. Plus, we would catch up with all our friends. They said they were going to take an extra day in Leon to see it and rest, so we will be in step with them again.
About 11:00am we walked into Mansilla de las Mulas. Our bus did not leave until 1:49pm. With a couple hours, we headed to a restaurant for lunch, enjoying our typical 3 course meal (salad, chicken and flam) with wine for 11 euro. We sauntered back to the bus station about 1:00pm and researched the route ahead and made plans.
Right on time our bus arrived. For 3.60€ we rode 12 miles instead of walking and were soon at the bus station to the east of the historic downtown portion of Leòn. We walked the 1.0 miles across town to Plaza de Santa Maria where the albergue was, however we were planning to spend two nights in town and albergues only allow one night. We found the Hotel Pax next door and booked one of their pilgrim rooms for 60€ a night, a little more expensive than the 5€ albergue next door. But, private room with bed, sheets, blankets, shower and air conditioning suited us just fine for the zero day we plan to take tomorrow.
We had booked a room yesterday for 40€ a night, but as we rode into town on the bus we could see that it was nearly 2 miles from the center of old town and too far away from all the “action”. We cancelled it.
Once in our room we showered, then contacted Sandy and Regina to meet for dinner. They were agreeable, and we met in front of the Leon Cathedral. Before dinner we toured the cathedral, awestruck by the incredible stain glass windows, more that I have seen in any cathedral. The cathedral was built in 50 years by a town of only 5000 population. Where did they find the labor, money and time to create this marvel?
After our tour of the cathedral we picked an outdoor restaurant for dinner. It was Italian themed and the waitress soon arrived at our table (far removed from the restaurant) and apologized, saying she was the only waitress working. We said no problem, we were not in a hurry. She took our drink orders and was back quickly. I poured my Diet Coke into my glass, but it appeared to be flat. A few sips confirmed this. It took it back into the restaurant to get a new bottle. The waitress took it personally and came unglued on me. She tongue lashed me about it and finally stomped off, got a new bottle and showed me that this one fizzed. I thanked her and returned to the table.
When the waitress came to take our orders for food she laid a hand on my shoulder and apologized, saying she was under a lot of stress. We asked if we could help in any way. She said no and we continued with dinner.
We had a great time catching up with Regina and Sandy. We sat for quite a few hours even though a fierce and chilly wind was blowing and I was in short sleeved shirt, shorts and sandals. When we finally departed, about 8:45, I was freezing.
Leon is not a giant city, but it is a big one, population about 178,000. Yet, the old town core is fairly small. Regardless, we saw and got to talk with nearly everyone we have met on the trail. While at dinner we talked to Jim and Sara. As we walked back toward our room we saw Annamarie, and Andre, not to mention about 6-8 others. We had a great time. They are all leaving tomorrow morning and we are staying another day in town, so they will get a day ahead of us again. Or will they? We plan to ride the bus out of town Saturday morning about 14 miles, then walk another 14 that day. This should put us in the middle of our “pack” again.
Once back in our room I took a hot shower in an attempt to get my body temperature back up. Once warm, I wrote a story for Robby and emailed it to Jeff, falling asleep a couple times in the process. It finished, I fell asleep for good.
There are monuments and statues all along the path
Wide open prairies for 360°
Pop stop in Reliegos
Typical small Spanish town we walk through. Clean and beautiful.
Sally crosses the river in León.
On our way to our albergue we walk along the old city wall in León.
León Cathedral stain glass. Spectacular and expansive.
León Cathefral from the outside.
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