Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon 18.18 kms
Not a good day!
It started out OK as no-one moved till 7 am. I started walking at 7.30. but with the change of hours it was dark! My leg is very painful but I would like to keep going a few days as I would like to see some of the Holy Week Processions. I've lost both my sticks and I needed a stick today, I had thought to buy one in Leon, but I managed to find one by the river! In the dark I saw the first arrow which led me across the road but I missed the one that led me up by the road, so I went for a lovely walk by the river! It was lovely until I realised that there were no arrows and that I was supposed to be walking by the road, so I wasted half an hour and walked 1-2 kms more than necessary! But I did manage to find a fallen branch which made a good stick! The rest of the walk was not that pleasant and it started to rain again.
My body tells me that this would be a good place to spend an extra day but it is Holy Week, the Hotels expect to have 100% occupancy and they will be extra expensive. I would like to get to Astorga by Wednesday or Thursday to see a Procession but, if my leg is no better, I will probably go home for a few days. I'm in the happy position that going home is much cheaper and more comfortable than staying in a city or a hotel!
I'll have to start a rescue service for pilgrims who need R&R after they've reached Leon or Astorga!
Lots of very pristine Spanish walking today! One family passed me just outside Mansilla, when I got to the next village, and stopped for coffee, they were in the bar and had ordered a bottle of wine and bocadillos. I haven't seen them since!
Lillian was stopping at Leon so we went for a meal in the evening, it was very nice.In Leon I stayed at the convent, it's the first Albergue I've been to that doesn't have pillows! It ¡s very hot too.
Tuesday30th March
Leon to Villar de Mazarife 21.95 kms
My leg continued to be really painful last night so I started early this morning, there was really no alternative to walking the 21kms. A lovely day, it's stopped raining but there is still a very cold wind and it still comes mostly from in front.
I had company coming out of Leon, I was dithering, looking for an arrow when I was joined by an Australian lad, he walked with me and then we were joined by a Spaniard for a while. It helps to have extra eyes in towns as some of the arrows are obscure.
After a while I was passed by a Spanish couple I had seen yesterday in Leon, they kind of look like pilgrims but he is carrying a small rucksack and she doesn't have one at all! Strange! When I stopped for coffee they were in the Bar, he was pacing up and down talking into his mobile, he was doing it when I arrived and he was still doing it when I left, he must have added another kilometer or 2 to the journey!
Later I walked alone, my leg got better with the walking. Lovely not to be walking by a road, and in the background are the mountains. This time I think they really are the Picos de Europa.
I've come to the albergue de San Antonio de Padua, another one where there is no kitchen but it does have internet, but I think I'm taking up too much time so I will have to stop! The hospitalero is a physiotherapist, he massaged my foot and said that it is OK to walk on it, it is clearing on its own, whatever 'it' is! A touch of tendonitis I think!There is a lass here with a tummy bug and at Mansilla they were saying that Ellen had had to stay there because of a bug so I hope not too many people catch it!
I had a meal in the Albergue, I thought I should, it's the last time I do something because I think I should and not because I want too! It was terrible, not the meal but the company, there was a family 4 German females and a toddler, a German couple, who I've met before and I know are very quiet, and the German lass and no-one spoke, the family sat down one side of the table and didn't even speak to each other let alone anyone else. I hope if they do much Camino they will learn to speak, I didn't feel up to starting a conversation in German and I don't like to expect people to speak English. So Silence!!
Wednesday 31st March
Villar de Mazarife to Hospital de Orbigo 15,08 kms
Just a short one today and a lateish start. Breakfast was from 7.30 so nobody got up early and it had been a lovely quiet night. At breakfast I spoke to an American and an Italian, when I spoke about the processions in Astorga I could feel the Germans all listening but no-one spoke again!
A cold start, sun to the left and rain clouds to the right it was a question of which arrived first and it was the sun! Now I am walking towards the snow capped mountains of Galicia, they are there all the time as a reminder of what is to come in a few days. I saw a very large stork's nest, complete with stork sitting on it, that was being 'squatted' by dozens of little birds, all twittering away. Mrs Stork didn't seem to mind and I suppose it was a desirable residence for the little birds.
I met one of the Korean girls who I haven't seen since Los Arcos. It's lovely to meet up with people again. I've done a short walk today as I hope to see a Procession in Astorga if I get there tomorrow, also it will give my ankle time to improve more before the hills.
This is a nice little town, I managed to do a bit of shopping, I've bought packets of Nescafe and little cream things, they will be really useful both for drinks in the afternoon and for breakfasts. I'm at the Parroquial Albergue, old and interesting, not very warm but the dormitory is cosy and there's a kitchen, which is good. The wash area and toilet are across a patio so I hope it doesn't rain!
Thursday 1st April, Maundy Thursday.
Hospital de Orbigo to Astorga 15.96 kms
Another fairly short day! A lovely day today but cold, still a cold wind! A very pleasant walk, I took the longer country route, probably not what I intended originally but much nicer than walking up the side of the road.
There's definitely a new breed of German about, they started in Leon and have 2 weeks holiday, they are hell bent on getting to Santiago at all speed and haven't yet learnt that on the Camino you greet everyone you pass! I expect they'll get the message eventually.
6 kms outside Asto
rga is an old 'hangar' type building. It's been taken over by a young Spanish guy and he's doing a lovely selection of fruit and drinks, a lovely surprise because it's a route with lots of ups and downs and not many places to stop.Astorga is a lovely town. Originally roman and roads led here from all over Spain, or maybe from here to all over France and Spain, I was hoping to find out more and I got here in time to visit the Museum but it didn't really explain, just re-iterated the facts that I already knew; there were gold deposits near here, but I don't know if the roads were to bring other minerals here, like the Via de la Plata from Andalucia or to carry gold away.
There was a mini procession on when I arrived and another one at 10pm.
I had a good evening, I ate with Julia, a German lass, then more Germans arrived, so conversation was in German, but I managed to understand the majority and added comments in English so it worked OK. We went to see the Procession, it was only small as Astorga is only a small town, but it was well done. For 2 or3 years, in Ibiza, I guided Good Friday coaches to the Proc
ession but I never watched it. The drivers and guides always went for a meal, as it was Good Friday there was a reluctance to eat meat so we always had 'Gambas a la Plancha' (grilled prawns)! How much suffering can any one person endure!? In Almuñecar I watched a Procession but I was really put off because during rests (and there are many as the 'floats' weight tons) they would light up cigarettes and eat bocadillos, it didn't seem right in a religious procession. This time the rests were just quiet moments. Now I am very keen to see a Procession in a big city.
A Good Friday 'float'.
I've discovered that in Leon (province) they do 'tapas' the kind that appear unexpectedly to help your drink go down. I've had some of the best ones ever whilst walking in Leon.
Friday 2nd April
Astorga to Foncebadon 25.13kms (1,439metres)
I heard a cuckoo today!
Today has been a good day. Last night Julia said that for her the first 10 kms are hard work and then after that she just enjoys walking! I've never been in that happy state, I'm constantly walking to arrive, but today I enjoyed walking.
The scenery is lovely. I had dressed for cold weather because of the incessant wind and the fact that we were going up 600 metres - so - no wind in the morning and the sun shone, by lunch time it was really warm, I was stripping off layers all the time.
There are loads of 'weekend pilgrims'; people carrying tiny backpacks, or no backpacks at all. A family turned up at the Albergue with a dog. They had walked a whole 10 kms, I think really they were just walking the dog and fancied a cheap night, but they had organised a 'credencial'. The ' hospitalero' was a bit taken aback but he reckoned that Santiago would still be in the same place in 30 years!
Today I did something I never do, I've actually walked further than I planned, so I've almost finished the climb but the last 4 kms it rained and we were walking through a stream running down the camino.
This is another of those quaint Albergues and we had a fun evening. I keep being surrounded by young German girls, also the German couple who were at Manzarife are here. I can't have much of a conversation with them but we're effusive with our greetings now. We had a round the table evening, some had the menu and some of us prepared our own food but it was very friendly. The German couple assure me that the family in Manzarife was Austrian, not German, and that the Austrians don't like the Germans! Also, apparently it did not use to be permitted to talk during meals in Austria!
Saturday, 3rd April
Foncebadon to Ponferrada 26.6 kms. 202.5 kms to Santiago!
I had a good breakfast, then looked out of the window! It had snowed overnight! Then someone said it was still snowing! It was, and it continued to snow heavily, with occasional bl
asts of hail. Fortunately the ground was too muddy for it to be slippery, but open areas were very windy and cold. I took my stone to the Cruz de Fierro, tradition has it that you throw a stone backwards, over your shoulder, towards the cross, thus getting rid of one's negative traits. I then plodded on, there were times when it was impossible to look up so I just followed the footprints, though these became covered fairly quickly. At one point I got a stone in my boot and had to try to lean against a pole, one legged whilst I got it out!The scenery was beautiful, like a Christmas card, (I always reckon that in England there's more chance of snow at Easter than at Christmas!)
After a while clouds set in and it was impossible to see anything, then, suddenly the cloud lifted an
d there was a superb view across the valley, at this point almost all green as I was almost down to the snow line. In the distance I could see Ponferrada with the sun shining on it! It was one of those moments when you know why it is worthwhile walking up hills!The coming down of this hill was considerably harder than the going up. It was steep and rocky or very muddy, at one point 2 trees had fallen across the path which was a little difficult, I have the bruises to prove it! I always have difficulty walking down hills, I panic and tense up and rely heavily on sticks to move very slowly. I was making my ponderous way down when first one, then a second, young man bounced past me. I looked at the enviously thinking, 'I used to be able to do that, why can't I do it now?' Then I thought, 'stuff it I can'. So I lifted my sticks and 'ran' down. Very satisfying and much quicker.All in all it was a long and difficult day but there was some lovely scenery. I did find it off putting, as I almost crawled into Ponferrada to see a memorial to someone who died there, I didn't need that information!
I don't know what happened to the weekend pilgrims, they seemed to disappear, I reckon they went home!
Easter Sunday 4th April.
Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierza 22.35 kms
A beautiful day, sunshine and beautiful scenery, full spring with lots of flowers - mimosa, blossoms and lots of little flowers e.g primroses and violets. I've discovered that it's kind of normal for little birds to nest in with bigger birds, they don't seem to mind sharing.
I passed through Cacabelos just as the Easter Sunday procession was leaving the church, all the locals were dressed up, we look very out of place.
I arrived in Villafranca in time to have my Sunday lunch. Many were going on further. Pilgrims are dispersing fast at the moment, people are organising themselves according to their ability to face O Cebreira, the big climb which is coming up next. The original group I was with has completely dispersed and the faces around now are ones which have turned up only over the last few days, we are now at a point when, hopefully, we will re-meet in Santiago.
Only 180kms to go and 1 steep climb.
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