Ugly But Lovely (Day 21)
The title of this post could also be my rap name. Today started pretty nicely. I had a good breakfast and headed out with a group of great people. I even met some cats.
Look at how excited this little pilgrim is to hit the trail.
A black cat scratching you is good luck, right?
This cat wants you to know that once the DNA evidence is released he will be exonerated and released.
The trail went through some fields (shocker) and we even passed over a nice bridge.
Fields as promised.
Bridge.
And then this happened.
I’m not cool enough for a poncho.
Yup, the rains came. We all knew it was going to happen but i had hoped we might make it to Leon before it started. We didn’t. The last time I spent hours hiking in the rain it was a pretty crappy experience (see Day 10 entry). Today was the opposite and I believe that’s for 4 reasons. First, the rain wasn’t nearly as bad as on Day 10. No real wind and it wasn’t cold. Second, the storm didn’t set my sinuses off and leave me feeling unbalanced and overall crappy. Third, I had eaten and wasn’t completely wiped out due to lack of calories. Fourth, and most importantly, I was with some really nice people who are quite fun to walk with. We carried on as if nothing was happening and continued into Leon.
Just outside of the city
The trek into Leon was ugly. This doesn’t mean that Leon is ugly, to the contrary it’s quite lovely. Especially the Old Town where we all are staying. The outskirts of Leon are ugly though, as they are with any city I imagine. It’s mainly industrial and you slowly begin to creep into the downtown area. Once again, it was jarring to go from hiking through fields for a number of days and then be surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a city. I was a little more prepared this time so it didn’t really bother me. It will be weird to get home to all of the noise and activity. It may take me a few days to re-acclimate but what are you gonna do? After a nice lunch we all split off to our various hotels and I checked into mine. My hotel is super flash. In my bathroom I’ve got a tub/shower combo, a toilet, a bidet, a sink and a urinal. The Porcelain Mafia in this town must be strong.
Once I was checked in I did what any devout pilgrim would do - I went to the laundromat. The laundromat is my church. The hum of the washers are my hymns and the plastic sticky chairs are my pews.
Behold the beauty of the Cathedral of the Suds. When I say “sticky chairs” I mean the kind of plastic seats that your grandmother might have had that stick to your bum and make a sucking noise when you get up. Not sticky like someone spilled something on them. Just wanted to be clear on that.
While at church some other pilgrims came in and needed help getting their laundry started. This was the moment I’ve been training for since my first laundromat visit in Spain. After showing them how to select the wash cycle and use the pay station I got to inform yet another group that THE SOAP AND SOFTENER ARE AUTOMATIC!! They were more excited than the previous couple I enlightened with this fact (because these ladies weren’t German and Germans apparently don’t get excited over super cool laundry related things and that’s their loss) and we all shouted, “VIVA ESPAGNA!”. Okay, maybe we didn’t shout it but I’m certain we all thought it. The camino is about giving back and being kind and if I had to go home tomorrow I feel like I would’ve done my part.
Anyway, I got to do laundry and now I’m going to go meet Mick and Jaqui for dinner. I won’t see them again this trip, they have two off days in Leon so I’ll be gone from Santiago before they arrive. It’s been an absolute pleasure spending time with them. We’re having Asian food because while I love a good Spanish pilgrims menu, which consists of a starter, a second course and a dessert, I MUST have something else.
Tomorrow I leave the city and continue into the hills. I’m looking forward to the change of scenery and hope my legs get used to climbing again. I’m not looking forward to the rain but I think I’ve got the recipe to overcome that, have a good breakfast and spend time with good people.
My beard is getting worse. It’s now got four distinct colors and aggressively conquering my neck.
Anything less than 12 miles is child’s play at this point. Remind me of this statement when I get into the hills and start bitching about a 9 mile day.
