Day Forty Three: Bercianos Del Real Camino to Leon

May 9, 2017

It was a pleasure to be able to pack our bikes and leave without being hindered by chains or late opening times. Part of the reason was that our bikes were essentially unlocked, resting in a covered laundry drying area but behind an openable gate. The villages we have been in are so plain and quiet that we can not imagine anyone messing with our bikes. Actually it would be news to see antone at all that was not a walker.

The photos below show the plain and peaceful nature of the place. They will be quite a contrast with the lively ambiance of Leon, further down this page.

As usual we were interested to watch the walkers making their way out of town, and trying to figure where the leading edge was and what time they had left. The number of walkers is quite amazing, and at one point we even came upon a walker traffic jam.

In the next town, El Burgo Ranero, we stopped at a "cafeteria" to see if we could get a sandwich for the road. Sitting outside was an American who I could chat with in English. I mentioned looking for the leading edge of the walkers from Bercianos, and he revealed that it was him! He had done it by leaving at 6 a.m. That meant walking in the dark for about 45 minutes. Tough guy.

Dodie got the cafeteria man to make a sandwich, but it turned out to made from the signature dry cured, unchewable, weird tasting ham. This was the stuff that seemed a bit weird in St. Jean, where the man said the quality would get ever better as we got deeper into Spain. I guess quality is subjective, because Dodie could not eat it all. In fact, she spent an hour trying to lose the taste of the bit she had sampled. So as we cycled by the line of walkers, we tried to identify someone to "donate" this sandwich to. The problem was that to even discuss it, we needed an english speaker. But the english speakers tended to also not like this ham. Dodie also had her eye open for a dog, so low was her opinion of this premium (and premium priced) product. Finally we found some university age kids who were happy to have it. At that age, they will eat anything!

In Reliegos, a sole and silly stop sign. We did see a car stop at it.

This is the second sculpture we have seen depicting modern pilgrims. In time, these too will be classics

At Mansilla, having deviated just a bit from the walkers' route through town, we ran in to a small market. We love markets, any size. Here we found a lady wth a pile of cherries, first of the season. The quality was not up to that of main season back home, but we are not back home and it is not main season. We were very happy to buy a pile. I also spied some cheese and handed the vendor three euros, for what ever small sliver that would buy. The man hacked off a huge wedge, say $11 worth back home, weighed it, and carefully gave me 20 cents change. I am very happy when there is flavourful hard cheese in our food bag!

In Mansilla, we ran into a market. The cherries are not really very good, but they **are**

We continued our hobby of walker watching, though we could no longer distinguish the leading edge from one place from the trailing edge from another. We did notice one walker noticeably limping, so we stopped and asked if we could help. The walker was Sam, from England. He had started with trouble with his achilles tendon, and now had blisters on two toes to boot. Dodie went into nurse/grandma mode and had Sam sit down, take off his shoe and sock, and put the foot up on her lap. She pulled out our medicl kit, and fixed up the blisters with "new skin", or something. Then she advised Sam about washing his socks frequently, and getting a wrap for the tendon. She put Sam back into action, and of course we wish him best of luck.

Instructions about carefully washing the socks

The village of Puente de Villarente is renowned for its 12th century bridge. I failed to see what all the fuss was about, but we did notice that a passerelle had been built for us pilgrims, since there must be no bike/walker room on the bridge. Te passerelle sported five rules of use, like no horses and walk your bike. But number five was the good one - no jumping on the handrail. Have a look at the photo - just who would jump on that rail?

The chain lube that we bought in France has not been pleasing, since it is a heavy weight oil made for rainy conditions. But it is hard to find a bikeshop here (not an open one anyway) and what we really needed was a spray like WD40 for varius spots around the bikes. Today I spotted an open "ferreteria" and in one minute came out with a spray that actually pictured a bike chain on the front. You can see I am pleased with this find.

Just for our German friends, we also found a Lucky bar. Now that could be a reason to visit Puente de Villarente!

Now who would want to jump on that rail?

We have seen few farm animals. but how about these baby goose twins?

Just before Leon there were some short but sharp hills. dodie pushed up these very handily. Hills are holding less terror these days, maybe as we continue to strengthen. Down into Leon, we naturally encountered the urban sprawl that is common to all modern cities. Just before reaching the old town we found a pilgrim welcome and info centre. The man there was so enthusiastic and kind, so willing to speak to us in a mixture of fractured English, and Spanish that he kick started a very positive feeling that we now have for the whole town. Before long we crossed the old city wall and entered the pedestrian zone that comprises the old town and the vicinity of the cathedral. It was much llike toulouse, which we also love. People everywhere, lots of interesting buildings, and even bakeries with large windows and doors!

A bakery that you can actually see in to!

Baby stork. Many high roofs host storks here

We had booked a room at the Hostel Leon, which is really just down the street from the cathedral. We are sitting there now, and it is so great. We are on the thrird floor, wth a little balcony opening to see the street. The street has a chocolate shop and a bakery right by our door, and a supermarket too. The hostel has a common room and even a kitchen. The cost - 30 euros, incredible.

We dropped out stuff and went out right away to see the cathedral. It looks very noble, standing in the middle of a large empty square. But we could immediately see that it lacks the extremme frilly carving of Burgos. The Rick Steves guide cautions not to prejudge based on this, because Leon is competing with Burgos on a different basis. Leon has focussed on stained glass. It has the most glass in Europe, save for Chartres.

We could not see this right away, because the catherdral was closed until 4. spain is simply closed from 1:30 or 2. We are lucky the thing reopened at 4 and not 6! To kill time, we went back to our chocolate shop, which is called Valor. They have been in business since 1881, and we counted about 30 branches around Spain, from the back of their menu. Dodie went for the four cup hot/cold chocolate sampler. The flavours were White Nepal Sweet. French Style cold, Traditional Hot, and 52% Intense. Dodie liked them all. She adores hot chocolate. Locally the hot chocolate/chocolate milk is called Cola Cao. If you ask for hot chocolate in a restaurant, they will heat milk and give you a packet of Cola Cao powder. But tomorrow we have bought bottles of Cola Cao "shake". If it's chocolate, it's good.

Tee shirt slogan good for teaching Spanish to grandchildren

The cathedral, when finally open, did show that glass was the name of its game. Although there was the required carved choir seats, tombs, statues, and suchlike, the feeling was more that of a huge rather empty space to give room to stand back and admire the stained glass. Indeed, the gift shop featured books cataloging the glass, or interpreting the subject matter of the various panels. There are 125 windows , with 1900 square metres of stained glass. The general style of the glass is that of rather small individual shards, making up detailed pictures, rather than larger and dramatic individual components. So the impact of the catherdral glass comes much from the sheer number of glass installations.

Sitting now in the common room of the Hostel, we are listening to the growing hubub of the street below. It should peak about 9 and taper off by 1. It would be tempting to stay on here for a bit, but we are driven, lemming like, to charge into the mountains and the forecast rain. We seem to have one more day of relative flat before the first of two mountain challenges. Dodie has just gone off to get the maps, to see where we can position ourselves tomorrow. But weather will be critical. We can not go up a mountain in rain ( or actually, Cicerone guide says descending is more dangerous). So instead of holing up by a chocolate shop, we could be waiting things out in a plain albergue. We'll see, eh.

On the front facade, the usual tale of virtuous kings and clerics frolicing with heavenly musicians while others go to hell

The two towers are of unequal height. In an attempt to compete with Burgos, one was raised and decorated.

The next dozen shots are from the Leon catherdral, mostly glass. I have just labelled them Leon Cathedral

Leon Cathedral. Example of carving on the choir stalls

This is the "White Virgin" somehow much treasured here. It used to stand outside but has been moved in for protection. A copy now stands outside.

The Whiter Virgin copy at the front of the cathedral

This is blog is coming to you tonight from this room at Hostel Leon

The street below is starting to refill, but itś bedtime for pilgrims!

Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 1,944 km (1,207 miles)

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