Frustrating blog moments

I just was about to post my blog and then I accidentally hit cancel and lost it all. I'm too tired to rewrite it tonight, so I will wait until tomorrow. Sometimes the wifi isn't strong enough to post. Such challenges...

I did have a wonderful dinner tonight near the cathedral in Leon with 6 new friends. I had a delicious fried eggplant stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with reduced balsamic vinegar, followed by a lamb stew and tiramisu. By far the best meal so far. All for 15 euros. The pilgrims meals have to include wine and bread in the price by law. Keeps the pilgrims happy!

Halfway to Santiago

 Today we walked around 23km to Sahagun, which is the official halfway mark on the Camino. I had heard from other pilgrims that there was a lovely halfway certificate you could get somehow. At our monastery/Albergue I found out that just there was another monastery about 15 minutes away up the hill that looked at your pilgrim credentials and if you had done the walk they would give you a beautiful certificate with your name on it. So, now I am the proud possessor of the halfway to Santiago certificate!

I went to an evening service with a pilgrim blessing led by the nuns of the monastery where we are staying the night. Centuries ago, Sahagun was the center of the Cluny monasteries, overseeing more than 100 of them. Now the town seems quite dismal and quiet.  

The Meseta

We have been walking for over 100km in the Meseta region. It has been prettier than I was led to believe, but lots of long dirt and rock roads with plowed fields stretching for as far as you can see on both sides. The sky has been lovely and blue and the weather not nearly as hot as it can be- thankfully!!

The Endless Road

Our first 6 km in the moonlight was wonderful. After breakfast at a crowded bar, we began the 18km to Calzadilla. The guidebook warned that it was a long 18km without services or villages. There was hope that at the 10km mark there would be a seasonal snack stand, but when we finally got there it had closed 5 minutes before. So, we sat in the sun on a hard cement bench to eat our fruit and nuts. It was a very long, straight, dusty, hot road that went on and on and on without turning or much on the sides to look at except plowed dirt fields. The last 4km seemed to last forever. Finally we saw a tower in the distance off to the right and we were excited that there was hope of an ending before too long. As we got closer, we could tell that the tower was only accompanied by hay stacks, not a town. We almost despaired, but then passed by a woman who said that she heard that the town wasn't visible until the last moment. Meanwhile, we could hear the Lithuanians gaining on us from behind. Their chanting started to unnerve us. We laughed as we said, "the Lithuanians are coming, the Lithuanians are coming," knowing that we had no energy to move out of the way or walk any faster. The town did appear all of a sudden and we gave a whoop of joy. Unfortunately, it isn't much to look at. We had a little trouble finding our Albergue because the name of it wasn't written anywhere. Eventually we got it sorted out and have connected with our camino friends here. The whole town is run down. There is a little pool outside and a Danish guy brought some German beer from the mini mart, so all is well.

Walking in the Moonlight

Last night there was a super moon and a lunar eclipse. I was hoping to see the eclipse, but I was told 2:30 am and it wasn't until 4. I did see the super moon however. Our first hour of walking was by the light of the moon. A thin slice of orangey red was on the horizon behind us and the huge bright super moon in front. That was the best part of the day!

The Road Less Traveled

After our fun, social breakfast Julia and I left alone to continue on. We walked along the road for awhile towards the next little town. We stopped at a cafe just before town to use the facilities. As we were about to step back onto the street, some high powered sprinklers came on almost drenching us. Then, we looked forward and a group of pilgrims carrying a crucifix and Lithuanian flags marched by. Apparently, they left Lithuania in the beginning of May and are going to Santiago as a group.

We decided to take a slightly longer alternative route along a river. We didn't see any other pilgrims for about 13km. The sky was incredibly blue and the wind rustled through the trees. We stopped occasionally to just listen and look and take it all in. Yellow and white and blue butterflies fluttered around us as we walked. It was so peaceful and serene. We were so glad that we chose that route instead of the one next to the highway!

A Gift of Music

A fellow pilgrim told us that there was a free classical guitar concert at the local church tonight. There was only a small group in attendance in the gothic church. The guitarist was originally from California but had lived most of his life abroad. He had designed a special guitar with an extra section that played a higher octave. It was so wonderful and relaxing to listen to him. What a gift to us!

Laughter

I had no idea how much I would laugh on the Camino. We laugh until tears run down our cheeks. Sometimes it doesn't take much to get us going. Maybe it is because we are so tired after all the walking, or that we are so far away from our normal lives, but everything cracks us up. 

Julia tripped twice yesterday, once doing an impressive shoulder roll into the bushes and the second time a face plant. After making sure that she was okay, I checked to see if she wanted a photo to remember the moment that she was covered with road dust. She did.

Today she looked over towards me and started cracking up. She managed to get out that my head was square. Sure enough, with my hat on, my shadow looked like I had a blockhead. Too funny. Almost wet my pants laughing. 

Today Julia and I walked with our new Camino BFF Nora from Germany about 6km to Fromista. Nora needed to get a taxi for the next bit because her feet are covered with blisters. We were pleasantly astonished that the tourists information office was opened  that early on a Sunday morning- truly a miracle. They arranged for a taxi and then she met 3 other pilgrims who wanted to go to the same place. We got coffee and tortilla from a bar and sat in the outside tables. Before we knew it, Irish Mary walked up with 2 others, an Irish guy named Rory that we had heard about joined us and our other Irish friend Ronan arrived. It was a spontaneous pilgrim party at 9am. We drank coffee and told stories for about an hour before saying goodbyes and heading our separate ways.

An Apple a Day

Once again, we lucked out picking our Albergue. It is a darling pueblo style place with a huge grassy garden with a pool and artwork of old stones, wrought iron statues, flowers and fruit trees. At the end of the garden near the main building is an outside cafe where I ate a delicious meal of white bean soup, pork cutlets and salad. The bean soup was one of the tastiest things I have eaten in Spain. While an Irish man Ronan and I were waiting for our food, an enormous apple fell from the tree and splattered right next to me. I jumped pretty high from my seat and was really thankful that it missed my head. Maybe it would have knocked some sense into me or provided me with a brilliant insight. But with my luck it would have just left a mark.