Today I passed the 100 km marker. Less than four easy days of walking until I’m in Santiago, and I could do it in three without much difficulty. Finisterra is looking like a good way to extend my walking.

I’m finding that I have fewer and fewer words when I sit at the keyboard. I suppose it’s because I enjoy walking so much that I’m walking longer and later into the evening, which leaves me less time to process my thoughts by writing in my journal. And in spite of “not much happening” I feel like I have a lot to process.

I was originally planning to walk a bit further today, but when I arrived in Portomarin at 3:30 this afternoon, I realized I had walked 24 km on nothing more than coffee and lots of tea biscuits. A hot meal was soon found, and also a very good conversation with a Czech woman I met on the trail today. Even though there were still several hours of daylight left, I decided to stay in Portomarin for the night so I would have time to sit and write and think and read. And now here I am at a computer uploading photos.

The last few days I have not covered much ground, but even if I continue to drag my feet, I will probably be in Santiago by this time next week. At this point, I have very mixed feelings about that. Yes, I’m eager to reach Santiago, but I would also love to just keep walking. Perhaps to Finisterra (the end of the world) and then turn around and head east.

It’s been a good few days since I last posted, but I haven’t really had time to process the events and the timer is ticking down on this computer. I suppose I’ll just log out once the current batch of photos finishes uploading, and perhaps scribble a bit in my trusty notebook. (Paper, that is. I left my EeePC at home.)

Just call me Rev Tevye. Or not.

I got underway this morning from El Acebo before dawn. In this part of Spain on February 1, that means by around 8:30 in the morning. Once I found my way out of town, I realized what a spectacular view I had and so I just stood and watched (and snapped a few photos) while the rising sun gradually touched the snow-capped peaks around me and 40 kilometers across the valley at the next major ridge of mountains. Wow.

The first 10 kilometers of walking yesterday was glorious — cold and crisp and snowy. (I’ve uploaded some of those photos to Flickr already.) The problem was that once we’d hit 1517 m above sea level, there was nowhere left to go but down. And that’s when the fun began. I don’t know what our altitude was when the snow turned to rain and the head wind picked up, but after 90 minutes of high winds and rain at about the 3 degree mark I had decided to call it a day at the first town after the pass. My friends decided they would push on, however, so we parted after a mid-afternoon meal. It was 3:30 when they left, and I figured they would be walking for at least another four hours. Oh, and sunset in the mountains comes quickly. By 7:00 it is dark.

Since I knew where they were planning to walk to today, I decided that after a short walk and long rest yesterday, I’d catch up with them today. On to Ponferrada, then, where I dawdled a bit. I spent three hours in the city, in fact. Apparently Mondays the museums in this part of the world close, but the 10th century Mozarabic church on the outskirts of town had a sign telling me which of the neighbours had the key to unlock the church. That was well worth seeing.

By the time I was done poking around, it was almost 4:00 pm and I was sorely tempted to take another short day and just stay in the city. I knew there would be a Mass at the cathedral for the celebration of Christ’s entry into the temple 40 days after His birth. If there had been a service in the church of Santo Tomás (the 1100 year old church previously mentioned) I probably would have stayed put.

Instead, I decided to head out to Cacabelos. Yesterday when we parted ways in El Acebo, that’s where my friends said they hoped to spend tonight. It is a good 18 km from the city centre, and the church of Santo Tomás was on the opposite side of the city. Still, it was a flat route with a nice smooth, even path and I made it in three hours.

Except that the albergue in town is closed until March. Since my friends had arrived in mid-afternoon, they simply kept walking to the next town, but it was 7:30 by the time I realized the place was closed. (Yes, it is located at the far end of town.) I rested for a few minutes and then headed back to where I’d noticed a few hostals. And thank God for friendly helpful strangers, because one guy I asked pointed me towards a place that had rooms for almost a third less than the place I was headed towards. And the clincher was, they have internet access with computers I can plug my USB devices into.

So, today I walked from sunrise to sunset, probably a total of about 40 km. My friends are 8 kilometers further along than I am, but at least tonight the only snoring in the room will be my own.

No, not the band. Twenty-four members of the ruling family of León are entombed in the Panteon in the Basilica of San Isidoro in León. The iconography on the ceiling of the royal crypt dates to the 10th century. The Pantokrator and the Last Supper were clearly recognizable to Orthodox eyes. The library and treasury of the monastery attached to the Basilica have been looted several times over the centuries, but they still have a Bible dated to around the year 960 AD and a communion chalice also from the 10th century.

In Canada, we consider a church to be an historic building if it’s been around for a hundred years or so.

We arrived in León yesterday afternoon, and after some walking in circles found the albergue.  It’s very nice, and there are two computers with free internet access.  And of course, last night the network was down.

This morning I woke up a little earlier than the others and eventually discovered that there was internet access.  And of course, now the others are eager to get going.  So, just a brief update while the photos upload, and then a spot of breakfast.  Then I plan to re-visit the 13th century Gothic cathedral and the museum.  By the time we got there last evening, the museum was already closed.  Then perhaps I might even do a bit of walking today…

This morning there was frost on the parked cars in Sahagún, and not a cloud in sight.  So what am I doing sitting at a computer terminal instead of walking on such a gorgeous day?

First, I am waiting for a massage.  There is a physiotherapist with offices in Sahagún and Leon who specializes in pilgrim’s feet.  Thankfully, I don’t have any blisters.  What I do have is a sore foot, related I think to my fallen arches.  I figure that a professional massage and a rest day may help.

Secondly, I am waiting for my friends Antonio and Arancha to catch up with me.  The uphill slog through mud I wrote about last time left Arancha with some very nasty blisters, and the extra day of walking she did after that was probably not the best thing for them.  She and Antonio decided to stay behind in Carrion de los Condes and she sought medical treatment.  I really enjoyed travelling with them, and I hope they are only a day or two behind me.  Now that I’ve added more minutes to my mobile phone, we can actually contact each other again.

Since I’ve mentioned them, I thought I’d mention some of the other pilgrims I’ve met so far.  Carmina left Burgos with us, but the second day of walking from there she received a phone call.  Her mother had been in a car accident.  She was not seriously injured, but Carmina finished the day’s walking and the next morning  caught a bus home.  I’m not sure how far she’d been planning to walk, but I suspect police officers in Spain don’t get five or six weeks of vacation in a row.

I set out alone two days ago, and after a few hours of walking saw something about a kilometer ahead of me.  (Yes, the road is that flat and straight.)  I wasn’t sure if it was another traffic sign or a person, but then I noticed the object had moved from the right side of the road to the left.  After walking another hour or so, I was close enough to see that, yes, it was another pilgrim.  I whistled and a few seconds later saw the figure turn.  I was still too far for my waving to register, though, but the pilgrim pulled over at a rest stop and got some water. 

Eventually I caught up with Javier.  He had decided to walk a section of the Camino on his vacation before returning to wife and work in Madrid.  For two days we walked and talked, or walked in silence.  At dinner in the evening our discussions were surprisingly wide-ranging.  Javier’s English certainly improved more than my Spanish did.  This morning, he headed to the train station here in Sahagún.  In Leon he will catch another train to Madrid.

Another pilgrim who caught the train to Leon this morning is Alejandro.  I actually saw him in the café in Burgos the day I got off the bus from Paris.  He’s been walking from Roncesvalles, but when he began his pack weighed 21 kg.  Since the accepted wisdom is that your pack should be no more than 10% of your body weight, he suffered quite a bit over those first few days as he shed more and more of the non-essentials.  He had been walking with several other pilgrims he’d met along the way, but decided to stay in Sahagún to rest his leg.  He’s planning to stay in Leon for another few days of rest, so I may meet up with him there.

I’ve tried to make this experience more than just a long walk, so I’ve also been taking the time to poke my head into churches and museums along the way.  Friday evening, A & A and I were relaxing in the resto-bar attached to the hostal we had booked into for the night.  (The local albergue was closed.)  The bell in the massive 13th century church across the street began to toll, so Antonio asked the woman behind the counter why and she said there was going to be a Mass.  Friday evening struck the three of us as a rather odd time for that, but I hurried across the street anyway.

I really don’t know much Spanish, but I do know a bit about liturgy.  It was fairly easy to follow the half hour long service.  The Great Doxology sounded the same, and of course the sursum cordum and the Lord’s Prayer were in the expected places.  At one time, Villalcázar de Sirgar had been a major town and the size of the cathedral bears this out.  That evening, however, there were only eight or nine of the faithful present, along with the priest and one Orthodox pilgrim.  It was a very beautiful service.

Yesterday featured another evening Mass.  Sunday morning just after we’d left the village of Moratinos (pop. 84), the church bell began ringing.  Although Javier is not religious, he knew that I am and offered to wait for me if I wanted to go back for the service.  I considered it briefly, but decided to keep walking with him.  Since I wouldn’t be communing anyway, it would basically be a chance for me to sit and pray surrounded by others doing more-or-less the same thing.  After settling in to the albergue here in Sahagún, I headed off in search of coffee and internet access.  I found both in a bar near the albergue, but both the internet terminals were in use.  While I was sitting there nursing a coffee and watching the football game (that’s soccer in North America), Javier came in and told me that the church was open and they would be celebrating Mass very soon.  It was very thoughtful of him to tell me, and off I went.  Strange pilgrimage, to be dashing from bar to church….

I just received a phone call from Arancha.  They have arrived in Sahagún, so as soon as I’ve finished uploading the current batch of photos, I’m off to meet them!