To Health and Leon!

It cannot be believed how restorative a plate of salty, olive oil soaked pasta and a prodigious amount of sleep can be. I awoke and felt so ready to tackle the day. After a breakfast of two yogurts, a peach and the most exquisite fresh baked, golden brown, whole wheat croissant, we set out down the Camino at a tardy but wonderful hour of 9:30. 

Rejuvenated!

Our goal was El Burgos Ranero, an easy flat 18 km away, not knowing how my body would respond to the walking. Briskly we ticked off the kilometers. My overwhelming gratitude in feeling so healthy, despite a slight nagging headache, never abated and we entered Ranero determined to push through the daunting 13 km stretch of isolated plains to the next town of Reliegos. 

Truly, it was night and day. Twenty-four hours prior, 13 km was my max limit, now it was a few hours of walking. I had entertained legitimate fears, when everything in my body felt backwards, that I may not be able to continue at all. I really just couldn't ever see feeling well enough. What dark places sickness can deposit you. But here we were, triumphant in a 31 km day, feeling strong and strategically placed to arrive in Leon the following day. In all, despite the short day to Sahagun, we lost no time at all, and we were still a day ahead, affording us our long desired day off in Leon. 

Donkey pilgrim!

Walking into Leon was not quite as glorious as the day before, as we were essentially traversing suburbs and sprawl the entire 25 km. Concrete paths merged into highway shoulders and industrial lots finally coming to the dreaded 4 lane highway crossing. For years, this crossing was singled out as one of the terrors of the Camino. Laden with their ungainly packs, pilgrims had to run/waddle across two lanes of westbound rushing traffic, perch delicately on a small medium, clamber over a concrete divider, and push themselves into a run/waddle across two lanes of rushing eastbound traffic. No bueno. Luckily for us, years of disgruntled pilgrims resulted in a magnificent pedestrian bridge, making the traverse into Leon rather uneventful. All in all, it was a much easier entrance compared to the sprawl of Burgos. 

Blessed blue bridge.

It seems we have perfectly timed our Camino to coincide with major festivals in the cities we pass through. The day of our arrival in Leon, October 5th, was the first day of a seven day festival celebrating San Froilan and a pilgrimage to the Virgin of the Way. The winding ancient streets of Leon, with tall beautiful buildings leaning ever so slightly forward, are filled with street vendors, and street performers guide you onwards to burst into the crowded plazas full of market booths. Lines of ribbons and banners trace across the sky, cutting across the brilliant blue with reds and purples. Everything is in motion, except of course, during siesta hours. 

Kelsey and I had made a decision to treat ourselves in Leon and splurge on hotels for our two night stay. Luckily we were able to find a tiny, attic nook of a room in a hotel right in the old town. 

View from our hotel.

At night.

Dumping our mochilas, we set out in search of food and festivities. Dressed in medieval garb, street vendors displayed their wares, and we passed towers of pastries, trinkets, and pottery. In a miraculous show of overcoming, Kelsey decided crepes, the dreaded food that was the onset of her sickness in Bayonne, was what sounded good. There was so much chocolate on my crepe, I actually had to squeeze some of it out. Unbelievable. Entering siesta time, the festival quietly closed up, awaiting the evening hours to come back to life, and we set about wandering the streets. 

Cathedral de Leon.

Almost everyday on the Camino, I have been wonderfully engaged on something to do with Israel or being Jewish. Whether it be a Star of David drawn on a highway underpass or meeting someone from Israel. First it was Anati and Tom, then walking into Leon, I happened to sit near an American girl at our cafe con leche stop who had just spent the previous year studying in Israel. With palpable excitement she told me of Jerusalem, Ulpan, her stay on an Eco Kibbutz, hiking in Israel and opportunities for immigrants. How serendipitous! And then! Walking through festive Leon, we turned up a wide cobblestone street and my gaze was immediately drawn upwards towards a large banner strung horizontally above the viewers eye. A menorah! What?! 

At that exact moment, a young man, also looking up exclaimed out loud in another language and whipped out his camera to take a photo. Following suit, he turned to me and asked in Spanish if I knew what that was. "A menorah," I said. Surprised he asked me where I was from. He was a young Israeli working in Madrid in town for the festival. Looking down the street, Hebrew letters were strung all around. It was inexplicable to me why there was an entire area of the festival devoted to being Jewish, but I celebrated in it. 

Happy and relaxed, we ate a fashionably late dinner. Most importantly we ate food totally unrelated to typical pilgrim fare. Brie salad, vegetable tempura and mushroom risotto. Taste sensation at a eclectically cozy restaurant. Sated and sleepy, not even the sounds of the festival underway on the streets could rouse us throughout the night.

The next morning we slept in (heaven!) and entered the streets of Leon already bathed in sunlight. Too full from the previous night to do more than look at food, we took in more of the old town and surrounding posh neighborhoods. I came to a challenging decision during the morning. My energy levels had hovered in a depressed state for days, even before I had gotten sick. I was able to walk, but it seemed the effort involved was too much. I knew the problem was that I wasn't getting enough protein, but I just can't stomach any more tortillas, or cheese sandwiches (and soy doesn't exist on the Camino from what I can tell). I decided I needed to eat some fish, and might as well have some in Leon before walking back into some smaller towns. I ate sea bass for lunch and I hope this will send my energy levels soaring tomorrow. Returning to our dinner spot from the day before, Kelsey and I closed out our rest day with another delicious meal and ran into our fabulous friend Julia! The Camino is a small world.

Pilgrim love.

Today was a day to re-center myself. I have come back to my original intent in walking the Camino, to live with intention, in the now. I am thinking of all my friends and family all over the world and all the happiness and struggles they are going through. Buen Camino to you all.