Cathedrals and Tapas

We all slept late in Leon. I had planned from the beginning to spend an extra day there. It is the largest city along the camino and with my flexible travel schedule I wanted time to appreciate it.

Marc wasn't sure if he wanted to stay or move on. After such a short walk the day before we didn't really need the physical rest. In the end he decided he would stay, but Simon headed out around lunchtime. We stayed with him walking through the city and then said our goodbyes. It seemed by this time that fate had really brought the three of us together, so we weren't worried about not seeing each other again.

After Simon left Marc and I talked about how different it was walking together versus walking alone. We both agreed that we should probably try walking alone again to be able to meet other pilgrims and reflect in different ways.
We spent the afternoon together wandering Leon. The two of us ended up in a cool bar that had tapas that looked like a bird's nest with an egg inside. It was so realistic I just took a picture and didn't eat it. There's nothing very appetizing about eating a bird's home and baby.
The cathedral in Leon was my favorite of all the churches we passed along the way. Whether lit up at night or shining white in the sun it remained awe inspiring.  Though I appreciated it so much from the outside I didn't feel the need to pay the fee to see the inside. Later, during my month living with a Spanish family I would learn about their frustrations with the catholic church. The economic crisis was in full swing, everyone had jobless friends and family, yet the church looked like it was prospering as a tourist trap for those who want to see gold statues and stained glass windows.
Still, these cathedrals are historic and architectural landmarks that bring a lot of beauty to the world.
That night, Marc and I exchanged email addresses in case I decided to get up early and go on alone. We were at the stage in our friendship where we knew we were more than just pilgrim buddies. After the camino ended I was sure we'd continue to keep in touch in some way.

Seven Kilometers to Leon

The following day we had only seven kilometers to walk before we reached one of the largest cities along the way, Leon. Simon’s condition was much improved so the three of us could walk together without going too slow.  The kilometers going into a city usually felt the longest. Walking on pavement hurt my feet and knees and the outskirts were always more grimy than interesting. 

However, seven kilometers was a marvelously short day and it was nice to be able to take our time and revel in the three of us walking together again. The two hostels mentioned in the German guidebook Marc and Simon used were closed. Thankfully, we found a great one near a Mcdonalds. The three of us enjoyed a fast food lunch as a big city indulgence. 

The rest of the afternoon was a normal one for the camino. We showered, relaxed, and did laundry. As I waited for the laundry I talked with a gentleman from England. He had done the camino with his daughter. He told me proudly how she’s a runner and the walking wasn’t enough for her, so she’d take a run every afternoon after checking into a hostel.  I felt so lazy hearing that after my many afternoons of siestas and long showers. I also felt that this woman was possibly crazy for running 10 miles after walking 20.

It was great to meet another pilgrim. I was wondering if walking with my two closest friends would mean giving up meeting new people and hearing their stories. The new experiences were exciting to me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to stop walking with Simon and Marc.

It was well into September, but the air was still warm and the daylight long. That evening we bought bread and cheese from a grocery store and ate it on the steps of an ancient building.  We people watched comfortably as dusk turned to night and then roamed the city center to sightsee a bit. The cathedral in Leon was quite impressive, especially lit up in the darkness. 

Reaching Leon meant most of our journey was over. Gone were the days when we might doubt that we would make it. The only question now was what adventures would we have before finally reaching Santiago de Compostela.

Lady, Sir

Since Simon had gone on ahead, and we didn’t know where he’d ended up, it was just Marc and I walking together. One of Marc’s reasons for doing the camino was to quit smoking. He’d begun at 16 and since then had stopped for months at a time, but never quit altogether.  In Burgos, he smoked his ‘last’ cigarette. Then in Sahagun after our dinner with Ha and Kim he decided to start again. I was extremely disappointed. 

Somehow it made sense to me that I should start smoking to help him stop. I knew he only bought one pack a day so I figured if I smoked a few then he was smoking less. Looking back it sounds totally irrational. When I first asked him for a cigarette Simon was appalled and physically tried to restrain me. I appreciated that he cared about my health, but trying me force me not to do something is often the surest way to make me do it. 

So I smoked a bit with Marc. He told me later that he doesn’t think I really inhaled and that’s why I didn’t become addicted. He also limited me to two a day and if I started to ask for them too much he wouldn’t give me any. I wasn’t even a little tempted to buy my own pack, since that wouldn’t further my master plan.

This was a day that he had decided I couldn’t smoke.  Another than that it wasn’t very eventful. Marc and I walked quietly a lot. It was nice to have someone to be comfortably silent with. At one point, not far from our hostel we both did a double take and walked back a few steps. Carved in the hard dirt was “Lady, Sir.” Those were the nicknames given us by Simon, who wanted his own nickname to be related to Star Wars. We were very surprised at the simple message and debated for a while if it was even for us. It was directly in the middle of the path so a lot of pilgrims must have walked around that spot to leave it clear for us to read since the day before when Simon had walked on. We talked about how we missed Simon’s company and wondered if we would ever catch up. Sometimes on the camino you run into the same people every few days for the whole journey. However, you never know if each meeting will be your last. It’s just a matter of chance how far we all walk and where we end up staying.

We walked nearly 30 kilometers, going further than we had planned. The hostel we chose was nondescript and random.  We were lucky enough to get the last two beds. To our great surprise we found Simon just across the room from us! 

He had gone 12 kilometers further the day before, but stopped ended up staying at the same hostel as us due to sickness. He was laying in his bed looking miserable when we saw him. We were informed that the five or so other pilgrims in the room had decided to reserve one bathroom just for him and the rest of us shared the other. Poor guy.

The coincidences of the day left me thinking about friendships and how some are just meant to be. If I only I knew then just how true this could be.