Week 4 Corrion De Los Condes into Leon

What a start to the week - hitching a ride with a mad Englishman, living in Portugal and transporting furniture from Spain to England via a ferry from the north of Spain. Nevertheless what a godsend and I took full advantage of this ride out of the end of the world - Fromasta.

As we started out at 7am I already arrived at my destination at 7.20am and tried to get my bearings in this new place - Corrion De Los Condes - now with a population of 2500 but in more important times it was 10,000.

Found my way to the albergues - in fact two, both run by an order of nuns, but first opening at 12 noon. So what does a lonely figure do in a strange place on an early Sunday morning - of course, spotting a couple of girls emerging form the distance. It happend to be two Danish girls and they invited me for morning coffee at the local bar and we enjoyed each others company for an hour or so. I then went to see the church next to the albergue, which I had decided to stay in.

I arrived at 8.40, sat down quietly and behold me from the back of me the most beautiful singing or chanting commenced. I sneeked a little look and was surprised to see the nuns ( approx 19 of them) sitting behind a iron fence, singing this chant - all in one tone, whilst the organ accompanied them. It was so beautiful and so reflective and something which I never had experienced before. As the mass commenced - I had forgotten all about it was a Sunday morning - the church filled up and I just sat there and tried to take it all in. The part normally taken up by lay people in Australia,was all done by the nuns - still from behind the church, so at no time were they visible to the congregation. Certainly a special mass and a very special event and celebration.

The order living in this monastery was the Sisters of St. Caire and this particular monastery was commenced in 1055 and St. Francis is said to have stayed there on one of this pilgrimages. The facilities were OK and one of the features was a wonderful court yard, where one could sit and reflect on the day.

At midday I wandered up the main street and was met by hellos and cuddles as I had caught up with both Caroline from the USA and Bradley. We all had a great afternoon, until these two lovely companions, who I have travelled with on and off for almost a week, caught the bus to Leon and probably will be out of sight for the rest of the Camino. I guess goodbyes are never easy, especially on the Camino where people seem to be able to build rather special relationships in such a short time.

Harvest times has arrived in these parts of Spain and the tractors and other machinery are working 14 hours not stop, to take advantage of the fine and dry weather. Sitting in the cafe yesterday afternoon, I estimated that they moved at least 150,000 tons of wheat through the small village - not a bad effort. Here in Spain only small trucks are allowed to be on the road on Sundays -hence yesterday's effort was solely done by tractors with a hanger. Already this morning I saw much heavier trucks at work, carrying more than 30 ton per load. The harvest has changed the landscape markedly - it has somehow become dull and lifeless. No more are the the many shades of gold visible, as the wind moves the straw around. During these last two days,apart from the wheat,one also sees sugar cane as well as the wonderful sight of sun-flower fields, scattered throughout the landscape. No wonder so many people fall in love with these wonderful flowers, following the sun throughout the day.

Despite my knees are improving, (oh, not my knees again) I have decided not to even try to walk again until after Leon in approx. 3 days time. Hence, I still try to bus each stage everyday - something not that easy, as the buses don´t necessarily follow the Camino.

However this morning I arrived at Sahagun -a very important seat of ecclesiastical power in medieval times.Once again there are a number of churches in this city, famous for either their architecture or history. I found a nice albergue, where the internet is free, so I am taking this opportunity to get up to date with my diary. On arriving, I once again caught up with my Belgian principal friend, so we will together go to the village and explore the sites. I have already found out that my bus for the next leg, departs at 9,15am from the other end of the village ( a 15 minute walk I guess and a small trial for my legs). The next leg on the Camino will be Mansilla de la Mulas, the last stop before Leon. (By the way I have passed the halfway point of the Camino and still finding every day so very special and a wonderful gift.

By the way, thanks to everyone who has been sending me messages. I really enjoy reading them and they make me feel very loved and appreciated. I am also happy that this diary somehow is able to convey my trip - something I can assure you, is very difficult indeed. It is definitely a once in a lifetime experience, as it is not that often we have this opportunity to say ´hello´to oneself and ask some hard questions like -´who the h... are you and what are you on about´?

I have arrived safely in Mansilla de los Mule (saddles for donkies I think it means) this morning fairly early, so I will give you an account of the last 24 hours or so.

I went to the Turismo Office to ask what time and from where I could catch the bus. Bus, she said - we have no buses going from this town. I tried to explain that I had just arrived in one and that I knew it was continuing to Mansilla and Leon - but no luck. She told me that I could try to ring the bus company, but she didn´t have the number. What service!! When I told everyone back at the aubergue the story, they all laughed. By the way this is the third time the Turismo office haven´t had a clue about the transport to and from the area in which they work. Quiet incredible.

After this I ventured out in the village and believe it or not got lost several times in the small streets and paths. Using a map is fairly difficult as the villages are not made like a grid as we find it in Melbourne, but in and out - up and down - so one wonders where one is very quickly.

I met up with a new group pf people late in the afternoon, so here goes.

Guiseppe came from Firenze (Florence) and spoke the most beautiful, melodic Italian I think I have ever heard. He worked in a bank but I am sure he could have delivered Hamlet in great style.
Marcus was 34 years of age and came from Barcelona and a really great guy. He was going to meet his girlfriend in Leon and had walked 50 kilometers a day to be there on time. ??? Finally his legs had enough and he decided to have a bit of a rest day yesterday and took the bus with me this morning. Isabella came from Turin in nothern Italy and spoke as quickly as anyone I have heard. She rode the Camino on a bike and told us a funny story, that she had been lost on one of the highways, when a police helicopter had appeared above her, followed her for a while, before landing in front of her - all that just to show her the right way. (I am sure the police in no way are associated with the Turismo office - what do you think?) Then there was Bruno from Bremen in the nothern part of Germany. He didn´t say much - in fact I didn´t find out that he was German until pretty late - but he was a terrific cook.

After this brief introduction to this group of people - once again just thrown together as part of the Camino - we occupied the kitchen and all together cooked a wonderful meal - a variety of pastas - some with tomatoes and garlic - others with tuna and olives - bruchetta (don´t ask me about the spelling) with garlic, olive oil and tomatoes (there was definitely and art to making this ) and a wonderful mixed salad. We all had a terrific time together and wished each other well for the journey ahead.
Todays stretch would have been a tough walk for everyone. It was a hot day and the countryside was flat as a pancake - with no shade - no food - no villages and most importantly no water´- just a path pointing in the right direction. So much of the Camino in the Leon Region just follows the N121 highway - not the most reflective or comfortable environment to walk in.

Mansella is a busy town for the pilgrims as two different paths meet here - the Camino Frances (which I am following) and the Caldaza de los Perigrinos starting in the southern part of Spain - hence the albergue here is a pretty busy place but with a wonderful warm atmosphere - mainly created by Bruno, (originally from Bonn in Germany) who has looked after this place for the past 12 years. It has all facilities including a delightful central patio where a large fig tree oversees the many wonderful meetings between people and wonderful conversations which take place here.

I arrived here with a large group of French peregrines - so at the moment I don´t believe I will be involved in any sort of interesting conversation (people travelling in a group are fairly difficult to get in contact with as they tend to speak their native tongue all of the time). However a couple just arrived from Canada, so I´m sure I will be OK.

I have already been investigating the Estacion Autobusses so I am ready to catch a bus around 10am tomorrow for my leg to Leon. However I am sure there will be yet another account from tonight, which I will relay sometime tomorrow. Until then - Bien Camino!

Yes I was right again - I am not quite sure why something good always seems to happen out of the blue, when you least expect it. I did feel a little left out on a limb with the French brigade around me, so I had a siesta for an hour or so and then decided to go for a small walk. I ran into a guy from Belgium, who I had met the day before - a film maker from Brussells, who had completed the Northern Camino along the sea last year and had then decided to do the French leg this year. We had a couple of Cafe con Hielo (not sure of the spelling, but must have pronounced it OK as she didn´t look like a questionmark when I did the order) - a cup of strong coffee which you tip over in a glass filled with ice cubes - sort of an ice coffee. Quite nice on a hot Spanish afternoon.

Wandered back to the albergue and stopped to say hello to a Scottish couple I had met briefly as they signed in to the alburgue. They were sitting having a drink with another man, who turned out to be from Montreal in Canada, where he had been a speech writer for a number of ministers in the Canadian government over a number of years. And that was the start to the most interesting, challenging, informed discussion, which I have experienced for a long, long time. His name was Claude Leblond and he had started his Camino in Puy - 450 kilometers into France - so he had already been part of the Camino quite a long way.

Not being able to convey the conversation in a way possible on this blog, just let me take you through some of the topics we covered.

The Common Market or as he preferred to call it the European Community and its importance as a model for the world to follow. He was of the opinion that most people in Europe didn´t fully understand the importance or the vision of this political model, which in very few years, had changed the map of Europe - reconciled old enemies - not just in regard to cooperation but to become close partners in a number of important areas- such as having a common monetary policy, making the market much more stable. He also argued that the impact the union had had on lower performing economies which had seen enormous changes in countries such as Spain, Italy, Poland and, raising the living standard in these countries considerably.

Other interesting discussion points were:

• The role of the press in world and local politics - the as he called it the Q&A dimension of the political machine - the number of civil servants employed to imagine questions or issues the press might run with and work on the possible answers needed .
  
• India and China and how these emerging super powers might play out their new position in world politics and economy.
  
• The sexual revolution in the sixties and the impact on especially the male, who in many ways had lost his identity as a male as role models were hard to find.
  
• We also spoke about the uniqueness of the conversations which seem to happen on the Camino. ´We are all travelling on the same passport, ¨( our Camino Credential) which in a unique way makes everyone belong and hence, somehow we all speak the same language.
  

To give you a bit of a picture of what happens I will relay the following. This morning just woken up and sitting on the bunk-bed, rubbing eyes and looking at Marcus from Barcelona - he out the blue started talking about his girlfriend in Barcelona (single mother with two children) and the issues he had to work through and consider in this relationship, (at this point my feet haven´t even touched the ground). He continued to speak about how different the male and female roles are in Barcelona, compared with the villages which we encounter on the Camino, where the social structures in many ways are as old as the village itself. He continued to reflect on the nature of the Camino - is the Camino the way to live your life - simple and with not much baggage - or is it simply a way of reflecting on what is important in ones normal life and make changes ? I am sure you will agree - pretty deep thinking first thing in the morning - but then we all live the Camino 24 hours a day and I often find myself waking up at 4am, reflecting on the conversations which have taken place - just to try to make sense of them and fit them into the whole experience.

We finished the evening with a meal cooked by the Scottish couple - curry and rice - a real home cooked meal, which was nice. So surprise, surprise - even in the presence of a French invasion, I ended up having a pretty special evening - once again!

Got the bus to Leon and wasn´t that sorry for not walking today, as the Camino on a whole followed the highway and had a pretty long stretch of walking through the suburbs before reaching the old part of the city, where the arbergue is to be found. It is part of the Benedictine Order (monastero de la Benedictinas) and houses approx. 45 nuns, who look after the place with much love and care.

Leon was at one time a Roman military garrison and base for its VIIth legion - hence the name Leon derived from Legion. Much of the city is still surrounded by the old defence system in the form of a wall - quite impressive and one can easily imagine soldiers being placed high on the wall in between the openings - there must have been some great battles taking place in this area.

When arriving in a large city sightseeing is of course on the agenda, and the first thing to see in Leon is of course the famous Cathedral Santa Marie with more than 125 beautiful stained glass windows, depicting various stories from the bible - an important way of teaching the gospel stories to people, who couldn´t read or write. Although it is a beautiful church, I find the Benectine Chapel much easier to find stillness in - these big impressive cathedrals are far too busy for me - gold and carvings everywhere - not in my opinion a place for prayer and reflection.

During the afternoon I went to the local hospital to get yet another opinion regarding my knees. It was a most unpleasant experience as I sat in front of the doctor who spoke Spanish and I spoke English (and never shall these two meet). I had asked a young Spanish boy to write an account of my health in English, just to help paint the pictute for the doctor - but she was and remained quite disinterested, so in the end I just stood up (making sure she could see how much agony I was in ) and simply left - I must admit, with a rather low spirit.

In the evening I went to the Vespers in the convent chappel, followed by Mass. The Vespers were different to the ones I had experienced in Carrion de los Condes, but equally as beautiful - the ´lead singer´for a better word, was a frail 75 year old nun, who sang with the clearest, strongest voice I have heard for a long time (I know my family will laugh when I compared it with Enja´s voice - but it was a pure and beautiful). The mass which followed was concelebrated by 3 young priests from France and was a wonderful celebration as well. The Spanish priest, although I couldn´t understand him, was a great orator and I was quite facinated just listening to him as he delivered the homily.

The evening finished by Claude and I going to a restaurant a class up from our normal pilgrims meals, and we really enjoyed it. I had (once again fresh asparagus) followed by salmon baked in pastry - a real nice combination and one I will try at home. Speaking about the cuisine - changes are taking place as we move across the Spanish continent. Here in Leon we are being introduced to more fish and seafood in general and yesterday when I had a cold beer, they gave some calimari to go with it. (I promise I will try it before coming back to Australia, but I am still building up courage). So even a day when I did feel a little low, it ended up being another good day, spent with celebrations, reflections and good friends.

On this last day in July, I decided to spend another day in Leon and have moved into Hostel Albany, just across from the cathedral - not a bad place. When leaving the albergue this morning I overheard another pilgrim saying that he was on the way to Leon central Hospital, where his wife had been admitted and had had an operation. I decided to go with him in the hope that this most important hospital in Leon at least would have a look at me. It took almost 45 mnute to get there by bus, but I found it and I must say, that despite of the language difficulties, everyone did their very best and we all had a few laughs along the way. I saw a doctor, had x-rays taken and was hapy that at last my problem was looked into. The diagnosis didn´t suprise me - acute tentanidis of both knees and NO MORE WALKING ON THE CAMINO. At least I know now and can in my mind prepare the rest of my camino with the help of the Spanish bus companies. I am ademant that despite this set back, I will continue to get the best possible experiences from my CAMINO, and NO WALKING ain´t going to spoil that. I suppose there is still that quiet voice in my head that taunts me regarding being in control. I was going to do this walk - I prepared the best I could and nothing was going to stop me. I guess the Camino had the last say as so many people expereince either in a physical, emotional or spiritual way. The faces you meet on the way tell their own story - from a deep joy and peace to deep pain.

Spoke briefly with Laraine to tell her of the result and to speak with her about her last day at TCF - a big change in her life - a closure as well as a new beginning. Was great to hear her voice and I can´t wait to see her on the 21st August.

Last evening I was suprised to catch up with a number of friends from Sahagun, who just came strolling past me as they came to see the cathedral. It is almost like seeing family - quite a unique experience. Stories are told, lots of laughts and the introduction of new pilgrims who have joined the group along the way. Guiseppe was there and they told him that despite not undertanding a word, I was in great awe of the way he spoke the Italian language. Lots of laughing at that one! I hope I will catch up with this group again in a couple of days as they are all good fun to be with.

This morning, Friday the first of August, I will go to the Estacion Autobusses and inquire of the possibilities to move along the Camino in not too many large steps. I think I will be OK for a couple of days. After that I am not sure, as the Camino then enters the Galician Mountains and the highest point on route - almost 1600 meters or almost 5000 feet - a part of the journey which evidently is very beautiful and one I so would have loved to expereince. However I am hopeful that I will continue to put the Spanish bus companies to the test and find a way to crawl along.

I continued along the journey and arrived at Valladongos del Paramo, a small village which you reach if you walk the alternative route of today´s leg. The albergue was easy to find as it was placed as you arrive in the village. Not particularly great but a bed for the night and a chance to catch up yet again with a few friends from the Camino and relax the parts of the body which need a little tender love and care. A local podiatrist visited the albergue late in the afternoon and she was very popular indeed - not for her looks but obviously she had some skills which came in very handy on this part of the journey.

We were a small group who decided to cook dinner together as it both much cheaper as well as a lot of fun. Guiseppe was the main chef suggested a pasta with zuchini and bacon, so away we went shopping for the ingredients - easy you might think - but you are not in Spain with a young girl behind the counter, who only speaks Spanish. Can you imagine the circus trying to explain that we wanted zuchini and we intertained the whole shop in the process. At last she left the shop and came back with two large zuchinis - you can imagine the uproar and everyone clapped. What a spectacle. However the dinner went well and was delicious and was enjoyed by all.

I met a spanish lawyer from Barcelona called Stephanie, who spoke English very well and promised to help me look at the internet and find out when the bus would depart the following morning. After much searching we, or rather she, worked out that the bus would be there at 9.50 and 10.50. So this morning I ventured to the bus stop in plenty of time and stood in the sun waiting...and waiting ... and waiting and for some unknown reason got a bit hot under the collar. What is it with bus timetables in this country? It finally arrived at 10.33 so on I went to a place called Hospital De Orbigo, a journey of only 15 kilometers. However, it is the most wonderful albergue I have booked in to - a real home away from home. The feeling one gets in the various albergues are quite different and very much dependent on the hospitaliers, who are running the places. However, I know I will be very comfortable here tonight. The place is full of artwork as one of the things they do here is to give everyone some paint and ask them to make a painting of their impression from the Camino - not a bad idea and judging from the many paintings around the place, some peregines are quite impressive artists. As I sit writing this blog I am listening to a CD with Danish - yes Danish songs and artists - no wonder I feel at home.

A couple of German girls told me that they passed a swimming pool on the way into the village, so I think that´s where I will where I will spend the afternoon - not due to the girls but a big swim would just be wonderful and help loosen up those sore muscles.

And that was excactly what happened. The pool like everything in the afternoon pretty much deserted put what a wonderfuñ facilñity in such a small community. Fiurst of all I had to borrow a normal size towel to take with me and when I arrived at the pool I was told that I needed a bathing cap, if I wished to swim. A little charm and they girls gave me one to loan for the day. Diving in to the pool gave me a bit of a fright being used to heated pools in Australia - this was definitly not heated and it reminded me of the pool in Darwin - the water ice cold despite the hot temperatures during both the day and the night - a bit of a mystery but never mind that.

I had a very interesting conversation with the girls who both came from Potzsam near Berlin in the old East Germany. They told me that even thought they had lived in a united Germany almost all of their lives, they were, due their upbringing, diffrest from young people from the west. Otherwise they seemed to think that the nification of Germany had been successful and gave everyone a better chance for a good life.

When I returned to the albergue I had a wonderful Regina who came freom Brasil amd work at the albergue fro a few weeks, gave me a wonderful massage, which was what the old body needed. Did I enjoy it - you bet!

In the morning we all shared breakfast before setting off on the days walk and I caught up for probably the last time with this group of lovely people, who have been part of my Camino for the last 3-4 days. Once again saying goodbye is never easy but we wished each other a Bien Camino and off they went.

What a fabulous way of finishing this third week of my Camino. I just sent a sms message to Ally and wished her a wonderful birthday - it gives a real good feeling to think of everyone back home - I am a very blessed man with such a wonderful family and so many good friends - I think this is a very important reason why I am able to have such a great Camino. Thanks guys and seeing Astorga tomorrow as the start of the week 4.