After a couple of days in Leon it was time to hit the road. Couldn´t resist another picture of storks, this time an urban couple with a young one who had nested on top of a Roman pillar in the old part of the city. very good address. We had a couple of days of steady climb towards the mountains and along the way met a young man giving out hot and cold drinks and fruit from the back of a cart. It was all free and he asked only for a donation. He lived in the shack behind and had no electricity nor water yet he devoted himself to helping pilgrims. Lovely guy.
But the mountains were calling and we headed on towards Astorga. The choice of accom here was a 90 bed municipal hostel (5 euro each) and the 3 star hotel in the Plazza Mayor (34 euro each) with terrific views of the old town hall.. No contest and we revelled in the luxury of it all. Real bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast as well.
The next day was a steady climb to Rabanal in preparation for the climb up to the Cruz de Fer, the huge cross under which pilgrims traditionally leave a pebble. They also leave other stuff likes flags and shoes so this romantic spot looks like a bit like a rubbish tip. The weather at the top is notoriously fickle and on the day we did it the weather was a mixture of low cloud, fine rain and very cold. If I wanted weather like that I´d go to Rhyader in November. For the first time I asked myself what I was doing on the camino. I could be scoffing cozze and linguini with Jill and having a leisurely float in my rubber ring in the Adariatic. I was not a happy pilgrim. My mood changed when we emerged into the sunshine and relative warmth of the next valley.
We were also sad to "lose" two of our travelling companions who had to press on to Santiago. We met Suzanne from Vancouver when she heard us singing "Try to catch the wind" and came over to talk to us about the song. We have eaten meals with her many evenings and we´ve laughed together at the absurdity of our trip. If you read this Susanne have a great time with husband and daughter on tour. Sonja, from Chicago, has also had to hurry on. The phrase "Camino chic" is an oxymoron but she was able to pull it off with a sun hat which was part Beau Geste and part T.E. Lawrence. Here she is warming herself in front of the fire in a hostel just before the Cruz de Fer.
Some of the villages in the mountains are very like the sort you see in the Alps but much more run-down.
My Spanish is coming along but I do use the odd bit of French and Italian when I´m stuck, Irv has a Masters in Linguistics and cringes at my attempts but it seems to work for me. I even got my blood tested in Leon hospital where none of the staff spoke English. I love Spanish though. Can you believe you can say things like "Eh hombre, que passa" and not feel like an extra in a poor Western movie.
Next few days we´re up country then in the mountains but now less than 200 km to go. "Hasta la vista".
No comments:
Post a Comment