Leon and 300 km to go!

So, about all of that good weather we´ve been writing about - it´s over for now. We´ve now had a chance to experience the Camino in the rain. We´ve had two days of the real thing and a couple of overcast and drizzly days. Rain makes for a very different kind of day. We prepare our packs with rain covers and wear lots more clothes, including rain jackets and gloves, since the temperatures have been much cooler - about 9 degrees. It´s also been noticably windier. The walking, however, has still been pleasant. When we stop for a break, we bring all of our wet gear into the bar, hoping for a nice warm cafe con leche and a chance to dry out a bit. At the end of the day we stuff our boots with newspapers to help dry them out (contrary to advertising, goretex is not waterproof) and the dormitory is filled with drying jackets, ponchos, rain pants, etc.

Yesterday we walked into the city of Leon and had the afternoon to look around. We saw the Gaudi building - very lovely (that´s it in the picture), and the cathedral - spectacular. Just walking around was interesting - lots of winding, old streets and inviting plazas. Unfortunately we had to walk very quickly since it was raining and very wet.

In Leon we stayed at the Benedictine Monastery for the night. We´ve stayed at a few of these now. Generally the facilites are limited and there is no charge, other than a request for a donation. In the evening there is usually a vespers service in the church with the nuns. It´s lovely to attend and enjoy the music, though we really don´t understand a word.

The rain has given us new appreciation for certain things about the Pilgrim experience. Our particularly happy moments include:
- energy snacks during the day - nuts, dried fruit and especially chocolate
- coffee stops - the usual cafe con leche with those delicious Spanish pastries
- seeing our destination for the day on the horizon
- a hot shower
- checking in with people we´ve met before on the Camino
- dry socks and boots
- hearty Pilgrim meals with the always available red wine
- good weather for drying laundry.

We´ve done about 500 km to date and have approximately 300 to go. Spanish distance signs are notoriously inconsistent. Our map book says 297 km to go, however the sign on our albergue today says 319... Regardless, we are making good progress and are continuing to enjoy all of the various different aspects of the journey. Each day is a new adventure.

Business Opportunities on the Camino!

There are some wonderful business opportunities here on the Camino that we´d like to tell you about:

Have we mentioned the number of cyclists that travel to Santiago, using the same route as the walkers? They whiz by in their spandex with the names of their home clubs emblazoned on their shirts and shorts. They usually wish us all "Buen Camino" as they cycle past. They come from all over the world, mostly Europe, covering about 80 km per day. One man from the USA even had his GPS with him. But somehow, these cyclists have not heard about a BICYCLE BELL!! or they haven´t been taught how to use them! They often come up behind us so quietly we don´t realize they are there until a voice calls out "Hola!" and we realize a cyclist is on our heels! Which way do we move? to the left? to the right? stay in the middle? A little bit of warning that they are coming would decrease our anxiety immensely when we feel their breath on our shoulders! So the business opportunity for you entrepreneurs out there is to sell bicycle bells to every cycling Pilgrim on the Camino. Instructions will be needed in Spanish, German, French, Dutch, and English ... for starters.

Another business opportunity is to sell those laundry spinners to help get more water out of clothes after hand-washing them. We think they may be called "extractors", they work like the spin cyle of your washing machine. We have encountered them twice in our travels to date - once in the albergue run by German volunteers and again in the albergue run by Dutch volunteers. Every albergue should have one!! It´s amazing how much more water comes out of wet clothes using this device - and that´s very helpful when you need to hang up your hand-washed clothes every evening to dry.

The third opportunity is for lots of WD40, at least a dozen cans needed at every albergue. You wouldn´t believe how loud and irritating squeaky doors - bedroom doors, bathroom doors, cupboard doors - even beds! can be during the night when you are doing your best not to disturb the other eight or so people sleeping in the room! If you would actually oil the squeaky doors for the hospitalieros, that would be even better!!

And finally, one for the designers among you - showers! Pilgrim showers need rethinking. They need lots of hooks - for clean clothes, for dirty clothes, for towels and for toiletries. They need privacy. A dry place to stand after showering would be nice. A good showerhead and good drainage help. And all of that would probably be needed within about one square meter of floor-space. Those of you who have travelled in Europe will know how small the showers are here.

So, there´s the challenge. Let us know what you come up with!

The Meseta

In the past week we have covered a lot of ground! In fact, we are now half way to Santiago and feeling quite accomplished!

Last Tuesday we were in the city of Burgos and had the opportunity to be tourists for an afternoon. It was great! We drank coffee and ate lunch in the plaza - lots of people-watching, with the very large cathedral in the background. We also toured the cathedral and went to a mass for Pilgrims in one of the very lovely chapels.

After Burgos, we were on the Meseta, or "table land". It´s relatively flat, but not like our prairies. It´s noticably drier here, and the sun gets hot in the afternoon. Lots of grain farming here, and the fields are much bigger and wider. The first crop of hay has been cut; the colours have changed from spring greens to more summer greens and golds. The land is "scrubbier", there is more irrigation and, generally, things look less fertile. We´ve moved from the province of Burgos to the province of Palencia, where there are more houses built with bricks rather than stone.

We´re doing well. We generally get up earlier to walk in the cool of the morning. In the first picture, we turned around to see the town of Casrojeriz in the sunrise. In the other picture we are enjoying a bocadilla for lunch - lunch happens after cafe con leche, whenever we are next hungry.

We are currently in the small town of Ledigos and we are making plans for arriving in the city of Leon, about four days from now. The weather has continued to be amazing - sunny, and enough breeze for an enjoyable walk, provided we don´t continue into siesta time in the afternoon - about 2pm.

Thanks again for your comments, we enjoy hearing from you.