We have had two very different days on the trail. On Sunday night we were in Calzadilla de los Hermanillos, a one street town with one store that opened for one hour in the afternoon and one bar/restaurant that served a pilgrim menu. We ate at the one restaurant with every other pilgrim in town (about 15) and then turned our attention to the World Cup finals on the television at the bar. Foster was excited to finally catch a game live. Nolan was excited because Foster was excited. Brianna decided the soccer players were cute, so she tuned in too. I went outside to Skype and took some grief from a well-weathered pilgrim about my inability to disconnect from the "real world." I laughed, acknowledged that I'm obviously not a "real pilgrim," and happily connected with life in Vermont. Rather than completely disconnecting from the life I will go back to, I find that my check-ins give me something to think about as I walk for miles and miles.
At halftime, Brianna and I went back to the hostel to go to bed. We had plans for a 4:30 a.m. wake up in order to get an early start the next day, and the soccer players were not THAT cute. We shook our heads as we realized that it was 10:15 p.m., and the sun was just setting as we walked down the road. As I crawled into my sleeping bag, I briefly wondered whether I was being a negligent mother - leaving my 10-year-old in a bar with his older brother as I dozed off. I decided that they would be fine. They were surrounded by "real" pilgrims after all. It's probably more dangerous for them to hang out with me. I do have a vague recollection of excited voices telling me that Germany had won the game before I heard my annoying watch alarm beeping at 4:30 a.m.
We set off through the desert-like tundra just before 5:30 under a full moon and stars. We occasionally pulled out our headlamps in the next hour to make sure we were still on the trail. It was chilly, just as we had hoped. Eventually we enjoyed the sunrise in the east as the full moon stayed high in the sky in the west - a beautiful start to the morning. We were prepared for a long trudge on the Roman road through this climate, and we carried snacks and water knowing our breakfast break would just be sitting in the dirt. We had decided to take a break at the 2.5 hour point, and despite the beauty of the landscape, the walking had gotten pretty monotonous by the time we finally sat down.
An hour and a half later, when we came across our first building, we gladly plopped down for drinks and a nice long break. We eventually mustered the energy to go 6 km further to the town of Mansilla de las Mullas where we enjoyed a picnic lunch before moving on in the full heat of the day to Villarente, where we would spend the night. Villarente is a suburb of Leon, and it was starting to feel city-like, but our hostel was a peaceful oasis with a quiet garden and lots of common space to relax and chat. We were delighted to discover our Croatian friends checking in a few hours later and took the opportunity to catch up on their travels.
Today was a planned "rest" day of just 21 km to give us a chance to spend a little time enjoying the city of Leon and to prepare ourselves for the 45 km trek we have planned for tomorrow. We slept in until 6:00 and actually listened to people around us getting up and packing without the sense of panic that we were getting behind. We didn't start walking until 6:45 and were in Leon enjoying a leisurely breakfast by 9:30 a.m and cruising down a busy shopping street by 10:00.
Our first priority was to see Leon Cathedral with its 125 stained glass windows and the famous statue of the Virgin Nuestra Senora la Blanca (who I am quite sure was winking at me). We were not disappointed. I shed my frugal side for ten seconds and paid the entrance fee, and we spent over an hour inside - listening to the audio tour and learning all about the cathedral. It was money well spent and made for a different kind of day on the Camino (maybe it puts me closer to being a real pilgrim?).
Our next priorities were more secular: to find Burger King, which had been prominently advertised on the way into the city, and to stock up on junk food at a supermarket. Burger King was a bust. The Camino is extremely well-marked, but Burger King is hidden somewhere, and, despite our burger cravings, no one was willing to walk any extra miles in hopes of finding it. The supermarket, however, was a success, and, given the burger fail, we decided on junk food for lunch. We plopped down on a bench at a senior play center park (pretty common throughout our travels - an outdoor exercise playground near senior centers with lots of cool "equipment" that we like to play on ). Today we got the added bonus of a VERY friendly senior (who likely thought he was talking to his grandchildren) who rambled on in Spanish for ten minutes or so telling us stories (?) and laughing. We laughed along, not understanding a word, and we laughed harder at the situation as the stories continued. The man seemed delighted that we thought his stories were so funny. Eventually we made some motions to pack up and leave, and he wandered away laughing to himself.
Part of the Croatian Crew
We walked an ugly 6 km through the suburbs of Leon to the last hostel before we head into the peaceful countryside again tomorrow. Familiar faces are starting to trickle in again tonight. There seems to be slightly less hobbling and fewer stories of blisters and pain. Thoughts and conversations are turning toward the final push through the mountains to Santiago. Forward we go.
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