2012-09-24 Monday

2012-09-24 Monday

Fromista / Leon

Camino Day 17. We woke up at 0630 and said out farewells to Linda and Kathy. Kathy's eyes welled up, she wanted to come with us by train to Leon, skipping the next 100Km or so of boring terrain, but her Camino partner is determined to walk every single Km, and Kathy is sticking with her. We will miss them, they have been great company.

We found a bar open, had breakfast, and then walked to the train station to catch the 0831 train to Palencia; from there we will take  another one to Leon. The station is small with no attendants, we have to buy tickets from the train conductor. A young American woman from Indiana that we had met before on the trail arrived at the station, she is also going to Leon. Her feet were all bandaged up, full of blisters, she will stay on Leon 2-3 days to rest her feet. I gave her my extra bottle of liquid bandage for her blisters.

The train arrived at 0830, and we all jumped aboard, arriving in Palencia at 0900. Paulo and I sat a couple of rows ahead of Terry and Nancy. The conductor issued the tickets, it cost 3.50 per person. Paulo, always the joker, asked Terry when we got off the train how much he paid for the tickets, and when Terry said 3.50, Paulo asked incredulously "You did not show the conductor you Pilgrim Passport? We paid only 2, he gave us the Pilgrim's discount." Terry got upset that he "overpaid" and missed the "discount."

I immediately went to the ticket window and found out that the next train, a fast one, will depart in 5 minutes; the following one is at 1230, but the fast one cost cost twice as much. I consulted with our group and we decided to buy  tickets for the fast train. There was only one window open and the old lady working the computer was very slow, so to expedite I bought two tickets in a single transaction, for Paulo and I. Terry was next, and when I saw him reaching into his pack to try to find his Pilgrim Passport to show the attendant to get the "discount," I figured that by the time it would take for him to explain to the attendant he wanted the discount, for her to understand his request and explain to Terry that there was no such a thing as a "Pilgrim Discount," we would have missed the train. So I told him that it was all one of Paulo's jokes. 

Before I had time to warn Paulo that I had to came clean with Terry, Nancy had gone to him and kicked him in the shin!   Luckily the train came in 4 minutes late, and we all got on board quickly. The girl from Indiana ended up in the car 8, Paulo and I in car 9, and Nancy and Terry had seats in car 10. We arrived in Leon at 1015. On the way to Leon we had a good look at the segments we were skipping, it is flat as a table, no trees and just a few bushes here and there. 

We all walked from the train station to our hostal, the Hostal Casco Antigo, a block from the Cathedral. Check in was at 1230 only, so we dropped our backpacks there and helped the Indiana girl find the Pilgrim's albergue, 10-12 blocks away. 

Nancy arriving in Leon, with her hand-made Delaware banner

We took a tour of the Cathedral, it's truly impressive, it was one of the first cathedrals to be built with thin tall walls and with lots of stained glass windows. It's light and airy, the previous ones were massive and dark with barely any windows. 

Cathedral

Cathedral

Cathedral

Cathedral

Cathedral

We went back to our hostal to check in and get settled in our room, we sharing a room with 2 bunk beds and a bathroom. We went out to have lunch, we got a recommendation to a decent and not expensive restaurant nearby, and we all had the menu of the day: a 3 course lunch with water and wine. I had a mixed salad, meatballs with fried potatoes, and melon for desert. The cost per person was 12 euros. 

After lunch we stopped by an ATM to get money, this is the biggest town for the next few days. Terry and I got our cash without any problems, but the machine "ate" Paulo's card without spitting out the money. The bank was closed, he called the Bank's hotline for help, but all they told him to came back to that branch tomorrow at 0900 when it opens to try to get the card back. Paulo has a backup ATM card, but he is determined to wait for the branch to open tomorrow to retrieve his card

Later in the afternoon we took a trolley for a tour of the historic center, to see the main attractions. 

The plan for tomorrow now is for us to have breakfast at 0730 and then the 3 of us would go ahead while Paulo will wait for the bank to open. We would proceed at a slower pace to give him time to catch up with us.

When we were going to bed we checked the weather forecast for tomorrow, it's rain. So we revised our plans. We will have breakfast at 0800, wait for Paulo to get his card, and then catch a taxi to the outskirts of town, about 8 Km away.

317 Km to go to Compostela!