June 25—From Leon, We Finally Arrive in Santiago de Compostela

Dear Family and Friends,

Monday, June 25, Martha awoke cranky after our late night and so little sleep the nights before, so she decided to work on the much-belated blog writing for a while, leaving Dani once again to wander the streets by her lonesome. She enjoyed a trip up to the walled portion of the city to visit the Basilica de San Isidoro, the main portion of which was constructed in the 11th century (about year 1063). She found it quite peaceful to sit in a place where people have been sitting in prayer for almost a thousand years; Dani took a full half hour away from the rigors of existence just sitting and listening in the quiet. Outside, she found a local to chat with for a bit and took the opportunity to ask some lingering questions on Spanish verbs (how do you conjugate 'pedir'?)—the learning continues!

Heading south, the Cathedral was now open, full of tourists. Although the signs all said no cameras, the security guards walked right past the many snapping away with flash at the art in different portions of the cathedral, so Dani took the opportunity to capture a few of the stained glass windows (without flash). A person could pass the entire day viewing the incredible works of stained glass delicately laced in mosaic and biblical storytelling, some of which were under reconstruction to preserve the amazing sunlight-catchers, others of which were just too darn high to the ceiling to be able to fully appreciate from her stature.

Back at the hostel, Martha enjoyed catching up a bit on the blog writing while listening to the Spanish music video channel. Upon her return, Dani talked Martha into heading up to see the Catedral for herself, for which she was very glad since she is such a fan of stained glass! She also was able to identify the Gaudi building in Leon (photo below and to the right), which is one of his more subdued architectural pieces (and now houses a bank!), but which is particularly interesting for the soldier spearing an alligator above the front door. Wonder if that's a warning hint to anyone underqualified for a loan!

We were able to leave our packs at the hostel until 2:30 PM with no problem, so met up about 1 PM to have lunch together. The El Llar restaurant close to the older section of town touted Leon-style cuisine, and we enjoyed just that: Dani had the bonito fish salad with some greens and tender baby potatoes; Martha had a combination plate of pimientos, jamon asado (rotisserie ham), picadillo (a red-sauced smoked meat and beans mixture), and morcilla (don’t ask … you don’t want to know). Well-fed, Martha’s good mood returned (yay, food!), and we enjoyed a slow walk back to the hostel to retrieve our bags and easily make our 3:30 PM bus out of town to our final Spain destination (for now)—Santiago de Compostela!!

Our ride to Camino de Santiago was just four days by bus … many make the 800 km pilgrimage trail by foot or bicycle to visit this city, and Dani hopes to someday walk some or the entire trail herself. The complete pilgrimage from the French border in the Pyrenees to the Northwest corner of Spain takes approximately five weeks. Dani may, however, have changed her mind after the last three and a half hours of our bus ride! The landscape changed drastically from flatlands to mountains while Martha slept between Leon and Perforrada—the bustling, modern city where Martha and Dani waited an hour and 45 minutes for a second bus to take them to Santiago.

Dani stayed with the bags while Martha hit the city streets of Perforrada near the bus station to find “artisan style” ice cream for her favorite traveling companion. Several blocks of the inner city showed much political graffiti, red marks screaming “Antifascismo” and “Anti-Nazi,” pubs, and clothing stores. But no ice cream! A tremendous Carrefour grocery store was located immediately next to the station, so she entered the store determined to settle on a box of four ice cream bars. Perhaps we could share two with other travelers, she thought. But, not necessary! The Carrefour—very ‘Target-like,’ containing everything from foodstuffs to clothing to camping gear—also had a row of stores in the forefront of the complex unrelated to the Carrefour itself, including a pub with an ice cream stand! Martha did buy some water and peanuts in the grocer, but also stopped on her way out to get two cups of single-scoop Scarriatella, chocolate-swirl ice cream with little nuts mixed in. Amazingly, both cups made it back to the train station intact and with little melting. We enjoyed our treat and played Yahtzee until the bus arrived to take us on the final leg of our Camino a Santiago.

Our view out the bus window of the Celtic NW of Spain was incredible: green, mountainous, littered with crops and houses on large sections of land, dominated by some large cities like Lugo that run along a river, and connected by small towns running probably no more than a mile squared. At every stop around the way, we could see Spaniards in warm jackets, sitting in plazas watching the world pass by, headed to classes, shopping, eating and drinking, and generally smiling as they talked together. No longer was the vast landscape cluttered with wheat fields stretching as far as the eye could see. Oh no, now the horizon line was gone and the sky was cut down to a third of what it was by towering green mountains like nothing either of us had ever imagined to exist in Spain!

It was 10 PM by the time we arrived at the bus station in Santiago, at the tippy top of town—and I mean that because most everything else in the town center is downhill from there. Dani called the hostel that we had booked online—Hostal Bayou—to let the proprietor know that our bus had been a bit late and that we would be walking from the station down to her as soon as we could. She seemed to understand Dani, although Dani could definitely hear a distinction between her Spanish and the regional dialect of Galicia.

Packs and bags wrapped around us, we walked through the stone streets, past the grand Catedral of Santiago (which appears on the one cent euro piece for Spain), got lost just once, and eventually made it to the hostel, where the kind woman was still awake for us close on 11 PM. She took us up to the third floor, where our room was simple—two beds, a desk, a bureau with locks, two chairs, a single outlet with a lamp on a stand between the beds, and a large window overlooking the street. We dumped our things, hungry and road weary, and headed out to see if any of the local haunts were open. We found a great diner-type place with sidra (the local cider) on tap, where we also enjoyed some tapas of small meat bocadillos and a tortilla empanada. We were very thankful for the food and to have made it so smoothly to our last Spanish destination!

In love and light,

Martha and Dani