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!  

Day 17

Today we walked only 13k/8miles to Sahagun where our friend Keko (a former teacher at Mt. Carmel High School) picked us up and brought us to his house for the night.  

Here's Emily at the statue marking the geographical center of the camino (the center of the path in Spain, not including where we started in France).

It reminded me a bit of the Neverending Story.  

Here's another pilgrim statue.  I call him the "pouty pilgrim".  It seems their statue-making skills could use a little work around here.  

The archway to the town of Sahagun.  

A friendly old guy in Sahagun asked us where we were going because we were in the town, not on the camino path.  When we told him we were going to San Lorenzo church (where we were to meet Keko) he tried to discourage us, pointing out the main church in the town and telling us to go there.  He only spoke Spanish and he spoke it very quickly.  When we did not give in he personally took us across town weaving through streets and the market until we reached San Lorenzo.  Not only was the church closed, it was also under construction, haha, no wonder he was discouraging us.  But, before he left, he took out his keys and opened the side chapel room, a sort of museum where they keep the big floats they carry for Holy Week processions.  He was very proud of the items kept in there, as he should be, they were very beautiful.  I took one picture before I saw the "no photos" sign, oops.  

I'm always impressed with the local people who go out of their way to help the pilgrims.  He could have just pointed us in the right direction of San Lorenzo and the hostess at the other albergue could have just told me there is no pharmacy in their town, but they went the extra mile to help us, to make our journey easier, or to show us something we wouldn't have seen otherwise.  And that brings me to Keko.   I should've known our time with Keko would be wonderful because in one email he told me "it's your decision, what is best for you, you are the ones walking the camino so you are the important ones!"

Keko picked us up and drove us north to Gijon, the beautiful town on the northern coast of Spain where he lives.  On the drive he asked if we like the beach... what?! Are you kidding me?  I mean I knew Gijon was on the coast but I did not know Keko lives one block from the water!  I was getting pretty excited.  

We stopped on the way to Gijon at this amazing restaurant.  The best meal I've had in Spain, hands down, and one of the best meals anywhere I'd say!  We had salad, bread, wine, cooked vegetables, really good beef, lamb, and cheesecake for dessert.  We all ate way too much, of course!

After lunch we drove into Asturia, the province where he lives.  He said it's the most beautiful place in the world and I have to agree... It's at least in the top ten!  

Are you kidding me?!  The mountains and the beach?  I couldn't have planned this better myself! 

We walked along the beach and the marina at night.  Keko's friend Tito told us some history of the town and we had drinks, including the famous Gijon cider.  

I'm thankful for being somewhere where I know someone, for Keko's amazing hospitality, for good food, and for sleeping in a bed with sheets not a sleeping bag.  OH AND THE BEACH!  God is so good, He never ceases to surprise (and spoil) me... this time He's done it by bringing me to Gijon and giving Keko as a host!  

I'm learning how great God is and He's making it an easy lesson!  :)

Day 16

Not much to report today, just a long day of walking, walking, walking.   We walked 26k/16miles with not much to look at while we walked.  The beginning was 17k without a village or anything of consequence to take a picture of.  

And just like the past two days, it rained almost the whole day.  We arrived in Terradillos de Los Templarios, yet another small village.  Since there was no grocery store we chose to eat the Pilgrim Meal for dinner.  We ate with two young American guys, a young woman from Italy, and Eveely, our friend from Belgium.  We've known Eveely since day 1 but this was the first time we had a long conversation with her.  She was full of questions about God, life, religion, etc, and she is very open in discussing her own life and beliefs with us.  Like everyone, she's searching.  I look forward to having more discussions when we meet her again, later on the camino.  

Today I'm thankful this long and boring day is behind us.  Many say this is the hard part of the camino because with nothing to see it makes your days walking go by very slowly.  I'm also thankful my feet are still doing okay!  

I learned everyone is searching... But not everyone feels "lost".  I thank God for faith so that even when I'm searching I'm not lost.