May 5 - Day 22

Day 22 - Sahagún to León - 55 km

Don’t judge me. I am not superhuman as you may think by the 55 km distance listed. No, I am making my life a little bit easier. Rachel and I are taking a bus from Sahagún to León.

Before we left home I was totally naive. I saw the plan, and thought: no problem, I can average 25 km per day and get into Santiago with time to walk to Finisterre. After all, I am a marathon runner. Well, then we realized how different it is to walk day after day. And the days over 25 km are especially difficult. That makes it hard to average 25 km. I enjoy 20-25 km per day. That way we are usually at our destination by early afternoon with time to shower, launder and relax, then still have time and energy to explore the town. And we figure that exploring is adding a few km as well. And a rest day once in a while is also fabulous.

The other factor is that the towns where we want to stay are rarely exactly 20-25 km apart, so planning is not so easy. And we want to be in Porto, Portugal on May 21 when my husband arrives.

For all these reasons, we are skipping ahead by bus today. Judge if you like, but only if you have just walked 400 km half way across a country.

So we got up late (yay private room). Had a wonderful breakfast with bacon and eggs plus TWO cafe con leche! Then some time to relax before our bus.

Later: okay, buses are not as easy as one might think. Buying the tickets was a breeze. Easy to use app, it even put the e-tickets into my apple wallet. Finding the bus stop another story. The fellow at our Hostal pointed us one way, where we found a marked bus stop but no nearby station or office. So we asked at the tourist information office and she pointed us in the opposite direction. Then this morning we headed that way. Nothing at all marked. Tried the train station. The guy there was no help. So we ended up at the first place, on the other end of town. Would it be easier just to walk all day?

Perhaps. After we were sitting at this bus stop for a while (30 minutes before schedule), I talked to a guy driving a private bus. He said (via google translate) to go back to the other side of town, “no stop aqui”. So back we go. At least the town is small and we can walk end to end in about 10 minutes.

More later: Finally we figured out where to stand, and finally the bus came. We are now on our way to Leon. After a frustrating morning. And the landscape is whizzing by. My first one in a motorized vehicle in 22 days and 400 km, seems fast!

Later still: I used the wifi productively and decided to book a hotel tonight. We were booked tentatively at a big albergue, but after all the hassle getting on the bus I figured I would treat us to a hotel. Not the Parador as in the Martín Sheen movie The Way. We are at the Boccalino. Not fancy, but at 70€ for two, it is the most expensive lodging we have had.

After checking in we went to the restaurant on the plaza and had a late lunch. Then we walked a bit. San Isidro is the cathedral near our hotel. Nice, not too fancy. Then we walked over to the main León Cathedral. It is amazing. Rather than a lot of gold and glitter, this cathedral features magnificent stain glass windows. Although they are restoring some, it is still stunning to see.

One the way back we were buying some snacks and met up with Kittie, who we had met previously. Made plans for a drink and tapas later.

And that’s what we did. Sangria actually. Then ice cream. Back at the hotel I worked on booking most of our accommodations. It seems most of our friends have done that and it just makes life easier and more pleasant. Sometimes it costs a bit more though.

Today’s lesson: buses can save you days! But finding them can be stressful.

Breakfast 4€

Bus 5.50€

Hotel 70€ (for two, but was my treat)

Lunch 13€

Cathedral 5€

Groceries for snacks tomorrow 6.50€

Sangria 4€

Ice cream 2€