We started the morning not anticipating walking that far at all. Our first stop for coffee was really needed as I had been meditating on the fact that the bugs on the path, snails and slugs, had given way to millipedes or centipedes. I didn't know which because I didn't have time to count their legs. I only have two and I was wondering what the Camino would be like for me had I had thousands. Anyway, I guess when you are walking across Spain, you get up close and personal with the ground you are covering. And you really miss coffee first thing before trying to think.
The place we stopped had some tapas heating in chafing dishes and I spied one I hadn't seen before now, that looked quite good after the same offerings over and over in the past weeks. John thought so too even though it was probably only about 9 in the morning. The meatballs were served on a plate piping hot with fries and a gravy and the ever present slices of baguette. They sure were good. Then we walked and walked and continued walking...... We both felt revived somehow from the morning of aching backs and sore muscles. Before we knew it we were entering the beautiful Spanish city of Leon 25 miles later. Well I admit I wasn't feeling so well at that point, exhaustion with the ever present painful feet. I had to sit down more than a few times.
We managed to grab a room in the hotel Paris and only booked one night, even though we had planned for two, in case we didn't really like it. It was in a prime location and after hot showers we were ready to explore. I know! After walking twenty five miles. Even hard for me to believe. If I could package up those meatballs and sell them, I'd be a millionaire.
As is typical when we come to a big city, we meet up with fellow pilgrims that have become friends that we have lost touch with along the way. Leon was no different and I'm sure this added to my renewed energy. When we saw Pat and Sue, the Ozzie twins we had known since the beginning at Orrison, it was like meeting once again, with long lost relatives! The kind you like! Met up with kiwi friends John and Debbie too and were so glad to see our comrades on the way.
We had wine and tapas with our Australian friends, Greg and Melody, before finding a little restaurant that served their specialty, trout stuffed with bacon and John had a breast of chicken all of which was delicious. The first breast of chicken we'd seen since arriving in Spain! It's always a leg and thigh. When we left the restaurant it was pouring down rain. Made our way back to the Paris for the night.
The next morning when we checked to see if we could stay another night since it looked to be a rainy wet day, they said they were completo. Oh well, we didn't really care for that place anyhow. The bed was too small and you had to turn sideways to get around it. Picture Chevy Chase in the hotel scene in the movie European Vacation.
We had plans to meet John and Debbie for lunch so we scrambled to find another place. A Camino friend, David, suggested a hotel behind the cathedral telling us it was probably really expensive since it looked really nice. Well, it was really nice and the same price as the Paris. How happy were we?
Met our friends for lunch and hugged them goodbye, feeling sad not knowing if we'd see them again since John was having issues with his shins. They would probably go forward.
We wandered the streets of Leon that night getting lost sampling tapas and wines in the many bars
down all the quaint little side streets and ending up at a place where we bought the most delectable treats for the next day. John did find out that to get a dark beer in Spain, you ask for "toast". It has worked every time now!
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