Day 19 & 20

Day 19 

 Leon to San Martin - 25km/15.5miles

Well, it's been rainy and cold for the last few days.  Such is life, I suppose.  Also, we've been walking along the highway, which is less than desirable, but it will help us appreciate the nature when we get to it!  

Here's another statue of a pilgrim.  I make it a point now to take a picture by every one I see!  Notice this guy has his shoes off - I can especially relate to him!  

He's just leaning against the cross, taking it all in. 

It took us over an hour to get outside the city of Leon.  Our map shows the city is 6km! 

Here are some interesting hobbit houses.  This area is the only place we've seen them.  It didn't look like anyone actually lives in them.  Maybe they are cellars built into hills.  But I did see a couple with chimneys!  

We stayed at an albergue with only 4 people (and no heat) in our room!  We had dinner at the albergue and it turned out quite nice, a wonderful home-cooked meal.  We had great conversation with the other pilgrims, one from Ireland, one from Holland, and a married couple from Venezuela.  They told us it's supposed to get down to 32F tonight!  

One of the highlights for me today was the man who called himself a "friend of pilgrims" and gave us a bag of three little apples and a few pieces of candy when we walked by :)

Today I learned I should be more thankful.  And I'm thankful it wasn't too cold today.  

Day 20 

San Martin to Murias de Rechivaldo

28km/17miles

Today started out at 30F when we started walking at 8:15am.  Luckily, it didn't feel that cold because the room we slept in didn't have heat, haha.  

Again we were walking by the road so I don't have many good pictures for you.  

I'm getting to see some fall colors!

I don't remember the name of this village, but the bridge leading to it was cool.  

You can see the mountains in the distance.  That's where we'll be tomorrow!  

Another pilgrim, this one kind of grumpy.  

The road to Astorga.  

The cathedral in Astorga.

Astorga was a nice town but we needed to go further.  We're on a tight schedule to make it to Santiago by Nov. 10th!  

We checked in at the municipal albergue in the little village of Murias de Rechivaldo and we were greeted by Oliver, the German guy who runs it.  He was very friendly and even made us a cup of tea to warm us up!  

We ate dinner with a man from Italy, one from Denmark, a girl from Sweden, and a lady from Finland.  Another great dinner with new friends!  

After dinner I was trying unsuccessfully to get wifi so I could at least send mom a message on her birthday.  The guy from Denmark offered to let me use his phone!  It was great to talk to mom even only for a minute!  

It's strange that we're here, at day 20.  I remember day 2,3, and 4 talking to Emily and wondering what it will be like to be on day 20... and now it's here, just like every other day... just keep walking.  

Today I learned that 2 minutes on the phone is worth a lot more than a Facebook message!  People are kindhearted and good-natured.

I'm thankful for Oliver's hospitality, especially the tea, and for random guy from Denmark's generosity to allow me to use his phone!  

Quote

"I can't wait for my left pinky toe to turn all nasty and hard like my right one." - Betsy

Day 18

Staying at Keko's was wonderful!  I'm sure he's a great host to everyone, but since we're pilgrims he's especially good to us!  He himself has walked the camino so he knows what we need.  

We slept in and then after enjoying our own private bathroom and as much hot water as we wanted, we found all this food waiting for us in the kitchen!  

We made omelets with ham and cheese! We also prepared sandwiches for our drive up into the mountains for the day.  

Did I mention his fridge was stocked with diet coke?  How did he know?!

Here's where Keko brought us.  The name is Covadonga and it's a town built around a shrine.  

Here's the basilica.  I don't know all the history but I'll tell you the little I learned.  Apparently Spain was being conquered by the Muslims and most of Spain was taken.  A man name Pelayo and his troops were holding off the Muslims in this area, in the mountains.  It was looking very grim because of the numbers and the amount of Spain the Muslims had already taken.  Then Pelayo prayed to Our Lady, asking for her intercession, and that's when the tides turned.  Pelayo and his small army were able to push back the Muslims.  Thus the title of Our Lady of Covadonga was given and a shrine was built.  

Saint John Paul II came here and said if it weren't for the defeat at Covadonga all of Europe may have fallen to the Muslims and lost it's Christianity (or something like that).  It would really be a good idea to research it!  

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covadonga%2C_Spain

Here's the shrine built in the cave where Pelayo's armies were victorious. 

Here's a unrelated superstition.  Keko told us it is believed that if you drink from all seven founts of this fountain you will get married in one year.  I asked if he had drunken from all seven and he laughed and said, "a million times!"  So, since he's still single I'm not holding my breath ;). 

We went to Mass in the basilica and it was packed with people!  Keko said he didn't know why it was so busy.  You tell it's a local pilgrimage site where families go for Mass and to spend the afternoon. 

After Mass and visiting the cave, Keko took us to a lookout where you can see both the mountains and the sea.  It was gorgeous!  

Here we are at the bus station saying goodbye to Keko, the best host in all of Spain!  But it wasn't too sad because I feel confident our paths will cross again.  Like when he comes to the U.S. this summer, right Keko?

We took the bus to Leon, checked in at the albergue, and went to see the cathedral.  Unfortunately, the cathedral was closed, which is highly unusual to be closed at 7:30pm when most churches have a Mass at 7:30 or 8:00 on Sunday nights, oh well.  The outside was pretty :)

After we visited the cathedral we stopped for frozen yogurt.  You can see how excited I was about frozen yogurt. 

We stayed in an albergue that was part of a Benedictine convent.  They had separate sleeping areas and bathrooms for the men and women, which was really nice.  Also, they invited the pilgrims to join the sisters in prayer.  Like with the other sisters, I enjoyed night prayer in common even though it was in Spanish.  It's easy to see the universality of the church when you know you're praying the same thing as millions of others around the world.  

Today I'm thankful for Keko and his generosity!  I'm thankful for getting to see so many beautiful sights!  

I learned how wonderful a day of rest can be!