Leon

I have now crossed the Castilian plane from Burgos to Leon. This is the most monotonous part of the journey. It is also in the middle of the journey: in Burgos I had about 300 km behind and 500 km ahead - in Leon I have about 500 km behind and 300 km ahead.

Casa Nostra in Castrojeriz was charming but unheated and therefore very cold. The night temperature must have dropped to zero outside and close to it in the house. I had a room of my own with a gorgeous view over the valley. I also had a private toilet, as everybody else was living on the first floor and I at the entry level. To my surprise Antonella and Nadja were living upstairs. Then there was a Spanish young man from Valencia. He spoke good French and some English.

The night was cold but I was OK in my sleeping bag. I needed to put on my long underwear and woollen socks and hat, and use the very large and thick blanket provided by the house. I put it sideways on the bed, with the other half hanging over the edge. Then I put the sleeping bag on the bed, crept in, and flipped the blanket over. This made a very warm and cozy shell, where I could adjust the temperature by opening and closing the zipper of my sleeping bag. I slept very well.

On Monday March 23 I set out from Castrojeriz at sunrise (shortly after 7) and head for Carrion de los Condes. According to my guidebook, the trip is 45 km. It starts with a rather steep climb to the top of Meseta from under 750 m to above 900 m. Then follows a somewhat too steep descent. I catch up with the other guests and drop in at the first open cafe in Itero de la Vega after more than 10 km's walk. The other guests show up too and leave before me. I sit down with Josep from Barcelona. He speaks very good English and is doing the trip with a bicycle. When he hears I am coming home via Barcelona, he gives me his phone number - in case I should need help with something. I walk another 10 km to Boadilla del Camino and have lunch with the Spanish fellow from Casa Nostra. The private albergue is great. The food is good, service friendly, and garden very well kept. My Spanish friend is a bit tired and decides to stay there. I continue to Fromista, where I buy some vaseline from the pharmacy. The man behind the desk engages in friendly conversation about Spain, the use of vaseline to prevent blisters, etc. To my surprise I manage to carry on this conversation in Spanish. It is still another 20 km to Carrion de los Condes and I arrive there tired. The albergue is next to a church and run by nuns. These nuns are not at all austere, like the people in Logroño were, but very cheerful and friendly. The atmosphere is good. They invite me to participate in the mass, which begins at 7:30. However, I need something to eat and it is already late. By the time I have had a shower, washed my shirt, shorts, and socks, and found a food store selling bread and yoghurt, I hear the church bells and realize I am late for the mass. I am not wearing a watch and have only a vague idea of the time. I eat some and got to bed shortly after 8.

On Tuesday March 24, I set out at 7. My nose leads me to a bakery near by, where I get a loaf of bread and a friendly smile. The first segment of the day's trip is 17 km no a perfectly straight and flat road to Calzadilla de la Cueza. The high point of the trip is passing by an uninhabited house which seems to be used as a warehouse of some kind. I also cross a cañada - a route through which flocks of sheep are hearded. There are cañadas all over spain and I hear that one of them even goes through Madrid. Unfortunately, I see no sheep this time. I Calzadilla everything is still closed and I have a new blister at the front of my right foot. I treat it with a pocket knife (washed with Betadine) and put Leukotape on it. I have found Leukotape Classic to be the best working cure for blisters. Beware of Leukotape Sport, though - it will not hold. Of the new second skin products I have very bad experience. They pump up the blisters to a huge size and then come off. Several other people I meet confirm this. 6.5 km later, in Ledigos, I finally get coffee. After 41 km I arrive in Sahagun. This is a major city, where even the fast trains stop on their way between Burgos and Leon. The albergue is within an old church and I find it charming. I pick a bed at random and spread out. Then I realize that there is a Finnish book lying on the next bed. It belongs to Ilkka, who works as a reporter and blogs daily to "www.torilehti.fi" (in Finnish). I also meet American Liz (who says she is 50% Finnish), Hungarian Agnes, and Isabelle from Germany (who slept at the same albergue in Carrion de los Condes. Ilkka and I go out to eat properly. We choose a traditional restaurant and order a quarter of a lamb, slowly roasted in oven. It is very tender inside and crispy on the surface. I would prefer to have some garlic in it but it is very good. We also empty a bottle of good local wine, which is young but tastes quite different from the (perfectly good) table wines that are served with the fixed menus.

On Wednesday March 25, Ilkka has vanished before I get up. I heard some noise before 6 and he must have gone then. The Camino splits in two at Calzada de Coto - I choose the left branch, which does not go through the village. After about two hours' walk I arrive at Bercianos del Real Camino, a village of 250 people. Everything is closed and people tell me that I have to continue to El Burgo Ranero to get coffee. I notice that I have developed a blister to by left foot, between the big toe and the next one. I is very swallen and I slit it open with the pocket knife and cover it with tape. First it hurts but then walking is OK. I continue to El Burgo Ranero, where I find an open cafe. It is only 11 a.m. and lunch should start at 1 p.m. However, by asking nicely I get a very good lunch served. Here I meet a Danish couple from Copenhagen. We converse in Scandinavian, although I sometimes have difficulties understanding them. Swedes too usually have problems understanding spoken Danish while Danes understand Swedish well. I have made three days of 41 to 46 km in a row and got two new blisters. I want to make this day a bit shorter and only continue to Reliegos (31 km). However, at Reliegos the albergue is closed and I have to continue to Mansilla de las Mulas. This means another 6 km under the blazing sun and with no shade. So, this becomes another 41-km day (plus the 1 km or so spent walking around in Reliegos). Just before Mansilla de las Mulas I catch up with Fabrizio from Rome. He too spent the previous night in Sahagun. He is in his 60's and a very nice travel companion. He is widely read and something of a philosopher. He speaks good English and communicates well with the Spanish in a mixture of Italian and Spanish. We settle in a private albergue, which is very nice. The inner yard is paved but there are flower pots hanging on all the walls, which makes it feel like a well kept garden. The showers are cold. Fabrizio and I settle in a room of our own. Soon Ilkka shows up and shortly after him Agnes and Isabelle. There are now five of us sharing a room with 11 beds. Everybody gets some privacy and space to spread out. Agnes says that all she wants now is a warm shower and a warm room. When I tell her that the shower is cold and there is no heater in the room, she is devastated. By asking nicely, the girls get the hospitalero to turn on the gas heater for the shower. Later in the night it also becomes clear that the room is heated in an unsual way. There is a gas heater in the office room right below and there are slits between the boards of the floow. We get a nice flow of warm air - and a warm floor as an extra bonus. Coming back from the grocery store, I run into a Spanish man with a back pack and puzzled look. I tell him that this albergue is very good and advice him to try it. His name is Tomas. He is a single guy, about 40, from Madrid. He speaks perfect French and good English. We go out to eat with Fabrizio and Ilkka. I tell Fabrizio that he can speak Italian if he speaks slowly and clearly. He grew up in Florence and speaks very clearly. When I have difficulties understaning something, he puts in a few words in French or English. I notice that I understand almost everything that he says. Among other things, he explains his theory of wine. Of all the great civilisations, the Greek and Roman one were based on wine. However, the Greek drank weak white wine while the Roman's preferred strong read wine. Therefore, the latter won. (The whole theory was much more elaborate but this will serve as a brief summary.) We eat at restaurant, where the whole family is working. We are the only diners and the wife gets called in. Also their son helps (he is about the same age as my youngest, 16). The place is in very good Castilian style, with the house, furniture, and decoration matching each other. The service is very friendly. The food is good and the bill is 28 € for the three of us. We feel sorry for the family, whose business doesn't seem to be going well at the moment. The few men having beers in the bar cannot support the restaurant and we appear to be the only diners tonight. We round it up to 30 € and leave some coins, making it about 33 €. This is still not much for a good three-course dinner. I hope there will be many more pilgrims visiting this place when the spring gets a bit further. Unfortunately, many of the pilgrims are in a saving mode and cook their own meals. Our business is also appreciated in the local food stores. Everywhere I go, people keep asking if there are more pilgrims coming after me. Many of these small businesses are totally dependent on the Camino. Spain is a wonderful country, partly because there are so many personal and friendly family businesses. There still are many good food stores, butcher's shops etc. and each bar is unique, with its own atmosphere. This is so unlike most of Europe, where the big chains have taken over. I hope to be able to do my little share to keep it this way.

Yesterday, Thursday March 26, I walked the remaining 20 km from Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon. When I reach the top of the last ridge and already see to Leon, the signs tell me to turn right and walk up to the top of the highest hill around. I follow them. From the top there is no view to the town, because bushy pine trees cover it. I say hello to an elderly couple, working in their garden. They tell me to ignore the signs, turn back, and walk to the city by the side of the highway. They tell me that the way ahead is long and there are more mountains. I turn back and meet Ilkka and Tomas. Tomas asks a local man, who says that the right way is along the highway but that the municipal bureaucrats have changed the signs because jumping over the highway is very dangerous. It is such a typical municipal solution to guide people astray instead of providing a safe way to cross the road. Together we three jump over the divided highway (at the risk of our lives) and walk along it for a few hundred meters, before we come to the marked Camino again. Ilkka walks slower and Tomas and I continue to Leon, all the way to the Cathedral, which is beautiful. Its construction was started in 1253 and it is in the Gothic style. There is a large pedestrian precinct in the old town. Leon appears to be a very beautiful and cheerful town. There is much more life and laughter here than in Burgos. We find the tourist office (right at the Cathedral Square) and they ring up an inexpensive hostel for me. I get a room for two nights for 20 € per night. It is clean, warm, and cozy, with a shower and wash basin. Toilettes are on the same floor (separately for men and women). Tomas continues to the albergue.

Because of the tough cold, I was lagging behind the tentative schedule until Burgos, where I finally caught up. I have now done the 180 km from Burgos to Leon in only 4.5 days. If I were to continue at 40 km/day, I would be in Santiago on Thursday instead of the following Tuesday. This would be unnecessary and my feet wouldn't like it. Instead, I decided to spend Friday in Leon and let my feet rest. Tomorrow I will continue to Hospital de Orbigo (38 km) - and then on to Astorga, Rabanal del Camino, and the Cruz de Ferro (the iron cross, at 1503 m altitude). I now have time stay overnight in Astorga, which I have heard many good things about. Then I should be ready for the mountains that lie ahead.

The weather has been totally unbelievable. The sun is shining for the 16th day in a row from a perfectly clear sky and there is enough wind to keep the air fresh. Even if it should rain for the rest of the trip, I have already got my share of the sunshine.

There have been many more people, places, events etc. than I have time to post in this blog. This is not primarily a photographic or blogging expedition. Walking alone on the road, many thoughts come and go, and some of them would be worth writing down. However, I came here to get away from computers (I work with them every day) - not to fight with them every night at the albergues. This time I got access to a good machine, which even has some image processing software. So, I'll post a bunch of images, some of which are quite old.