On to Leon - Day 23 (May 6)

The meseta is deceptive. The repetitive action of the muscles and tendons without the relief hills and valleys provide puts far greater stress on them than one realizes. We have many pilgrims in our midst limping and sharing stories of swollen ankles and shin splints and I now find myself in their company.

A late start out of Mansanilla had us traveling in solitude for some distance, that is if you can call walking on a road right next to the highway solitude. In fact, after a time I decided to once again plug my ears with music in hopes of blocking out some of the noise.

I have been on the lookout for livestock as we have been walking all this time through the meseta. We have really only once seen a few cows. Now, as we walk through a little town, we find what we should have seen in the country - a dairy. Yep, right smack in the middle of the town. Surely the town must come into being as an extension of the dairy as I could not imagine a town that was already in existence allowing for the aromas that result from such an enterprise.

At the outskirts Viillarente we came upon a band of pilgrims gathered outside a little restaurant. The description of their mushroom omelets had us convinced we needed to try one despite already having had a decent breakfast. It was bonissimo (a new term we have learned for something this is exceptionally good). We discovered that the young lady helping in the restaurant was in fact a pilgrim from Hungary. She was asked if she was interested in working there for a time so she decided to do that before she continued on her way to Santiago.

Fred with Former City Mayor

There was a medieval bridge leading from this little restaurant into the village but a path just for pilgrims had been created that took us alongside it. As we were walking a man about our age stopped us and thanked us for being in his city. It turned out he, Jose Luis, had been the mayor of the city for 25 years. It was he who had made the pilgrim bridge happen. He was worried about pilgrims crossing the medieval bridge as it was so very narrow that when two vehicles passed, a pilgrim had to press against the side of the bridge to keep from being hit. We are thankful he did. A picture of him with the bridge in the background and a selfie he took of him with us and we were on our way again.

Since the distance from Mansilla to Leon was a mere 18.6 kilometres, I thought I would just carry my backpack today. I was immediately sorry I made that choice. I could feel a significant difference in the pressure on my ankle so started looking for an albergue in the next town where I could hopefully deposit it for transfer to Leon. I was relieved to find one a short distance further. An Australian couple we had been walking with decided they would take a taxi in from the albergue where I deposited my backpack. I will try everything possible short of not walking to continue on this journey to Santiago. I do not want to resort to taking a taxi.

A little further up the road, we saw some men walking in the field carrying baskets. Now men carrying baskets that had the appearance of Easter baskets seemed a little strange and although we were quite certain they were picking mushrooms, we had to investigate. Indeed we were right and the gentleman I talked to let me take a picture of his precious conquest.

Blue Butterfly

We keep seeing storks atop virtually all tall buildings in Spain. This time we could see there were some little babies, their little heads just peaking out over the top of the massive nest. We also saw several blue butterflies in this section of the path. They were much more cooperative for picture taking than the precious day and I didn't have to go through all kinds of contortions just to capture them digitally. Somehow saying that does not seem nearly as romantic as saying capturing them on film but that is today's reality!

Arriving in the outskirts of Leon, we were invited to join a German lady, Viana, in a celebratory glass of wine as Leon was her destination for this year's camino. She had done the previous section in two separate years and will come back and do the next couple of sections in the years ahead. This probably seems a sensible way to do the camino so you aren't taxing the body so much but I am glad we are attempting it in one fell swoop, as they say.

Our first agenda in Leon was to find a place to stay. Again, many people make reservations ahead of their arrival but we like to just see what we can find. Sometimes this is a good thing and sometimes not so much but either way, we like the adventure of it. This time we found a nice room at Hostel Albany. We miss staying at the albergues because we feel like staying there is more a part of the camino experience but I was still coughing too much to be comfortable doing so. After this stay in Leon, I should be ready to once again join the rest of the world instead of the self-induced exile of recent days.

Leon Catedral

The Cathedral is definitely the focus point in Leon taking a commanding presence in the center of town. We attempted to attend mass there but had a terrible time finding the chapel so only were there for the very last part. We plan to tour the inside sometime tomorrow.

Leaving there, we met Ralph, Mary Beth & Paul from CA, Barbara & Steven, Denise & Ron, & Peter from Ireland for some appetizers before we proceeded on for an absolutely wonderful peregrino meal at the hotel where we were staying. While everyone else headed back to their respective places, Fred and I sat and looked at the lit cathedral and watched people go by. Wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Lesson of the Day: Sometimes it is a good idea to send the backpack ahead.

 

 

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