"Speak to me in a language I can hear
humor me before I have to go
deep in thought I forgive everyone
as the troubled streets greet me once again
I know I can´t be late
supper's waiting on the table
Tomorrow's just an excuse away
so I pull my collar up and face the cold
on my own"
-Smashing Pumpkins
León is a great town - it´s a city of open plazas, beautiful monuments, wide pedestrianized streets, and a disproportionate number of incredibly hot women. Needless to say, I stuck around longer than I absolutely had to. On the way out of town, my guidebook warned that there´s a nasty 400m stretch on the shoulder of a busy highway. Wasn´t looking forward to that, but it turned out my fears were unfounded. Just as I approached the stretch, I noticed something was going on...too many flags, too many people, too many oxen. Oxen? What the...turns out that it was the festival of San Froílan, who was once the bishop of León. On this day, there's a parade in a little town called La Virgen del Camino (which was a town I was passing through). In any case, a couple of lanes of the highway were blocked off so that the parade could make it's way into town, so I was spared the fun of being passed by trucks going 120kmh.
Problem was, once I got into La Virgen del Camino, the streets and sidewalks were so packed, I could barely move. I tried getting through for about half an hour, and then I gave up and just watched the parade. Got some really good pictures too, I think. From Virgen del Camino, I walked to Villar de Mazarife through Chozas de Abajo. For once, it was a beautiful and peaceful walk through the meseta. At once point, I turned around to see...mountains. What the hell? where did those come from? Well, the terrain here is slowly changing, the flat as a pancake landscape is becoming slightly more hilly and a lot greener. I can tell the mountains are coming up soon. How? I saw them for the first time in front of me later in the day.
The albergue in Villar was...quirky. It was very atmospheric, but it felt like the floors on the second level were going to break at any time. Super nice people though, and it was run on donations, so I guess I shouldn´t complain. Pilgrims in the albergue are allowed to write anything they want on the walls, and the scrawlings range from some incredible drawings to some really poor poetry. Not that I could do any better. What I wrote wasn't something of my own, but I really like it. So much so that I'm going to use it for the next blog caption. Stay tuned to find out what it is...
1 comment:
Hey u - You're almost there - keep going, I wish I was there with you, i need some time to think about life and the things I take for granted. Perhaps this trip would've been something of an eye-opener for me. I follow you through your camino as if I was there and I'm happy that you came across good people, maybe ones you can call friends. I laugh at your jokes and your dry humour. I like the one about your friend that didn't know a monkey from a donkey. I like your message and I miss you too - very much actually! I'm glad your feet are better and I'm even happier that you have come to the conclusion that not all things are or can be perfect. I can't be prouder to have a brother like you. Especially for what you are doing right now, you're testing yourself, your endurance - physically, emotionally, mentally and guess what - you're doing it. Be proud of yourself as well, love youself for what you are and who you are because you are very much loved by so many people. Come home soon, come home safely, I miss you and love you..........Menchu
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