Our Walk Along the Camino Frances

Pilgrims in Casa Jesus Visiting the House of Jesus on the Camino We were awake by 5:30 AM, refreshed, and ready to head out through the suburbs of Leon by 6 AM.  We again passed the junction for the Camino de San Salvador to Oviedo as well as Leon's Parador Hotel en route.  We opted for the alternate route that passes through Oncina and Chozas towards Mazarife.  While en route we met up with a friend who said he would be spending tonight in Casa Jesus and invited us to share a room there. We figured we couldn't walk the Camino and give up an invitation to spend a night in the house of Jesus, so we agreed to him there this evening.     Spanish Countryside  The nature of long-distance hiking is such that while you often travel from town to town with loosely the same group of people, you don't necessarily hike with them during the day.  Some days it feels like you are playing leapfrog with other hikers - first you stop for a break, and they pass you by, t...

Exploring Leon Spain A Break from Camino Pilgrimage and a Day of Rest This morning was a tough one. A combination of being a little hungover from our celebration last night and the lack of quiet from a nearby bunk meant that we left our beds at 5 AM, still pretty tired. Note that I do not say that we awoke, as no one in our room slept last night. This was courtesy of a man who ate candy all night long, digging around in the crinkly bag and then unwrapping each one individually, one after the other, continuously, until 4:30 AM when others decided they'd had enough and got up. Ironically, by 5:30 AM he was yelling at others, telling them to stay quiet, as some pilgrims liked to sleep. All I can say is that I repeated the same prayer all night, "dear lord, give me the strength to get through this and grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change." In this atmosphere, we got up, collected our laundry and packed our bags, resisting the impulse to make as mu...