Leon

Two days ago I spent time in Leon. Or I should say in the old Medieval center of Leon that houses the famous Santa Maria de Leon Cathdral, built to celebrate the Christian reconquest of Spain. It was started in 1255 & completed in 1302. It was unique among Spainish cathedrals because of the 125 stained glass windows, some of the finest stained glass in the world. 

The self tour with an English recording was fascinating. 

Yesterday wasn't a terrific day, unfortunately. I sympathize more closely with people who have told me that after days of walking they suddenly developed huge blisters or an injured leg or foot.  For some reason my knees hurt so much last night that I could hardly walk.  I hobbled along for a few kilometers this morning then stopped at a neat alburque 

to rest & get some supplies from the pharmacy, which have helped a lot. This is a picture of me relaxing near one of longest intact Medieval bridges in Spain. 

Buen Camino!

Prairie

After being sidelined for a couple of days with a very bothersome intestinal thing I had a great day today: 16 miles across what is just like the prairie in our western states. It is hot & flat & beautiful.  Lots of it is farmed with a sophisticated irrigation system. This stretch had no towns or picnic tables, etc.  When I finished I felt good--energized & kind of purified. In this  stretch there is the most perfect extant stretch of Roman road left in Spain today. Emperor Augustus followed this route as well as Saint Francis of Assisi when he traveled to Santiago.

These are actual stones laid down by Roman slaves at least two thousand years ago. More photos from today:

This picture is from yesterday. It marks the half way point (starting from St. Jean in France, about 17 miles from where I started in Roncesvalles, Spain)

Bien Camino!

Day 15

I have been walking for 15 days now, averaging 11.4 miles a day. Most days I walk 15 miles & it IS getting easier. I'm in the Meseta now, an expansive flat (relatively) area where you can see for miles, very much like the middle of our country. There are fields of hay, wheat & other vegetables.

Not quite flat-- this was our climb this morning! (Over that hill in the distance)

A couple from Quebec that I have gotten to know.

Francine has had awful blister problems.  They got infected & she had to take a taxi for a couple of days. Lots of people have foot problems & some have had to quit because of injuries. I've been very lucky so far. Many of the towns we pass through are tiny villages that time has forgotten. But there are big cities too, like Burgos, which is the capital of the Castilla y Leon region. The industrial outskirts & the busy city streets aren't much different than ours. The Camino alberegues (hostels) are in the old center around The cathedral, which is a gigantic Gothic structure.

One of my minor goals for the Camino was to pet all the dogs & cats that I could along the way. It doesn't matter what language you talk to them in they react the same way with wiggly delight & closed eyed pleasure. It reminded me how universal the need is for human love & human contact, for all of us. Buen Camino!

Amber waves of grain

Well they're not amber yet but as I travel west the grape vines are being replaced by fields of wheat. Even though it's only about a couple of feet tall the heads are formed & the fields really do ripple in the breeze like waves.

A few days into this pilgrimage I asked God "what is the reason I'm on this journey?" & the answer was "the original purpose of the Camino," which was penance. For many hundreds of years pilgrims from all over Europe journeyed to Santiago De Compostela for absolution of their sins. In our Lenten study--give up something bad for Lent--the book explored giving up greed, pride, vanity, & jealousy/envy. They might not seem like sins because we are human after all.  But they are. They lead us away from being the kind of people we were created to be. Greed is when 'want' motivates our buying habits instead of 'need'. When our grandson Miles began talking he would say "I need that" instead of "I want that".  He didn't actually NEED another Hot Wheels car, & it made me think of that whole relationship between need & want.  Pride was another stumbling block for the class. Being proud of your child's achievements or national pride isn't what it means.  It's self pride, self engrandeurment. It's thinking we're better than someone else because of our achievements or acts of charity, etc. I truly believe that it is by the grace of God that we are given the opportunities and gifts in life that we develop & use to make  us who we are. So I've been working on one thing every day. As I'm trudging up the hills (2,444 foot ascent yesterday) I use a breath prayer--inhale 'in with the good' and exhale 'out with the....'whatever I'm working on that day. 

I continue to meet the most wonderful people from all over the world. I was just chatting with some ladies from Austrailia. They had a 24 hour flight! Bien Camimo

The round thing way up on the highest point of this church is a stork's nest. I saw  two storks flying & one perched, leaning over feeding its babies. Hard to get a good picture because they build their nests on the highest church sphires. 

1 week of walking

Well, my body is just murmuring now, not shouting! My shoulders still don't really like the backpack but it fades into the background when I'm striding along. I a haven't figured out how far I've walked but I went 14 miles both yesterday & today. The scenery continues to be breathtaking even though it changes as I go along. I walked for a while today with a man named Alex. He lives in the area & likes to practice his English to keep it fluent. Spain is devided into areas kind of like American states. He said the area we were in had 500 vineyards & 40 wine co- ops. There are miles & miles of grapevines. They were spraying the vines today (which are cut way back & are sprouting a couple dozen leaves each). My eyes began to water & i couldn't keep them open. I kept stumbling on the stones because I couldn't see. I'm sure I was a delightful conversationalist. Alex said they spray with sulfur which makes sense as I am allergic to sulfur. I was ok a little on. All of the people I have met--both pilgrims & people in the towns & countryside-have been kind & friendly & helpful. I'll talk about some of in a future post. Bien Camino!

Vineyards 

Where I walked from

Where I was going

Lots of beautiful along the path

Forgot the pictures

Day 4

I can't really describe what an incredible experience this is on so many levels. The scenery is some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The camraidery among the pilgrims is even better then I expected. The Spanish people are very patient with my few words of Spanish.  It is harder physically than I anticipated, though. Imagine walking up the steepest hill you have ever walked up & keep going up for 1/2 an hour. Then you go down the same steepness, in the rain on slippery rocks & mud. I actually began to enjoy the walking on Saturday. It began to sink in where I was & what I was doing & how blessed I am. Saturday was my 66th birthday & what a way to celebrate! I went to dinner with a wonderful family: the mom is my age & her three daughters are about the same age as my children.  We spent the last 4 days traveling the same distances so kept running into each other. One thing came to mind the first few days as my feet & knees & legs were screaming at me to stop: Paul's passage from Romans 5:3-5. "Suffering produces endurance & endurance produces character & character & produces hope" & hope  brings us closer to God. Even though my suffering is self inflicted it was comforting. Buen Camino.