Day 11 and 12 - Touring Leon

From Burgos we left our albergue at 8am and found a bar serving breakfast. We then made our way to the bus station for our 10:30 bus to Leon. We were watching a TV screen that shows all of the departure times and destinations. The screen also showed a loading zone number so you would know what bus to get on. Our bus did not show a loading zone number, so we waited in the lobby. When 10:30 arrived and there was still no loading zone number, we decided to find someone to ask. Sure enough our bus was already there and loading passengers, they just don't really keep those screens updated. Good thing we asked, or we would have missed our bus!

The bus ride was 3 hours and ran through a very flat region. The people, and Peregrinos who walk this section, call it the meseta. It is a very flat, very long, very sunny, and therefore very hot section to walk. Many people who do not have enough time to walk the entire Camino take a bus from Burgos to Leon.

Once we arrived, we hunted for a hotel. Even though we had a map with hotels on it, they were fairly hard to find, and some we checked were booked. We finally did find the Regia Leon that had a room for three. We spent more than we had planned, but it seemed we didn't have the option to be choosy.  Saturday must have been some kind of festival in Leon because it was Mardi Gras crowded on the main drag. We saw bands in a parade, clowns with balloons, groups of people dressed in crazy costumes, and a political rally of some kind. The running of the bulls in Leon is in the coming week, so maybe it is already crowded for that.

We walked to a launderia and washed everything except what we were wearing including bedding and towels. It was nice to use an actual dryer!

After we returned to the hotel, we went in search of dinner. It was 7pm, and because we were in a big city, we could not find a Pilgrim’s Menu (served earlier than Spanish dinner time). Every place we checked did not start serving until 8:30 or 9. We finally found a place that said it started serving at 8, so we sat down to wait a few minutes. We misunderstood and went in the wrong door and ended up sitting in a coffee bar for an hour waiting for them to begin serving dinner. The guy at the bar finally explained that we needed to go downstairs for dinner. By the time we ate, we were so hungry and tired, we couldn't really enjoy it.

This was actually our “cranky” day. We had reached the two week mark of our trip, and that combined with the crazy crowds made us grumpy. Normally, stumbling upon a festival in a foreign city would be exciting. But because of the pace and the peace of the Camino experience, being in the midst of a loud, crowded festival was an assault to the senses. It was pretty overwhelming after 10 days of peaceful walking. The partiers went all night long (we could still hear them at 6am the next morning) but we went to sleep at our usual 10pm and slept the cranky away.

The next day we toured Leon. We visited a building designed by Gaudi and Saint Isadore's Church whose building is tucked into the ancient Roman walls that line the Old City. We also visited the stunning, gothic cathedral in the old city center.  We then checked into Santa Maria de Carbahal albergue for our second night in Leon. It is run by a group of Benedictine nuns. It is a relatively spartan albergue but is clean and well run.  We had a huge lunch in the old square in front of the albergue and then took a tourist train that drove us around Leon to see the major sights.

We returned to the albergue in time to attend vespers with the nuns. It was peaceful and beautiful.
After vespers, we attended a pilgrim’s blessing. We met people from Canada, China, and Brazil, but the most remarkable pilgrims were a pair of Italians. One was in a wheelchair and the other was helping him complete the Camino. It was very moving to see a pair of such dedicated friends taking on a journey like this together.