Time keeps on slipin, slipin, slipin into the future

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June 18, 19 & 20th - non walking days



18th



We get a good nights sleep and leave to catch our bus to Burgos with Peter and Jill. We run into Lucy on the bus - a nice surprise - she is a beautiful free spirt from the states and has a great sense of self and humour. She is catching up with friends in Burgos.



Tanya and her catch up on all the young folk gossip, Camino romances and tragedies. Oh to be young again.



We all get off the bus and Tanya and I, Peter and Jill find our hotel. Very modern and bare - Tanya loves it.



We get something to eat and roam the city centre - it appears all the big city centres evolve around the cathedrals and other religious buildings. There are many cafés, bars, ice cream shops and people - they are the focal points for the locals, pilgrims and tourists alike.



We see Peter and Jill and also run into Angus - young Australian pilgrim we met our very first night in Orrison - he kept us up all night with his snoring. We all have a beer together and we arrange to meet Angus for supper later that night - we have great calamari, chicken wings, a chicken Caesar salad and too much to drink - fact - a good vodka mixed in with beer tastes great.



I get an email from Mark & Debbie saying they will be in Burgos my second night and that we should get together - they are ironically walking with Damion - the other snorer from Orrison.



We get to bed late as we will not walk tomorrow - Tanya has booked her room and train to Madrid and we reorganize our packs - Tanya will be taking home a few items I have not used.



19th



We get to sleep in late and have a breakfast together. We get Tanya some euros from the ATM machine and I walk her to her taxi to take to the train station. We hug for a long time and take one last selfie - no smiles this time - and then she is gone. I will miss her but I know a whole set of new Camino challenges lay ahead.



As it turns out I do not connect with Mark, Debbie or Damion - Burgos is my city of goodbyes - I have decided to take bus to Leon tomorrow - I will miss the middle stretch of the Camino and walk the Astorga to Molinaseca two stages, the Sarria to Santiago last 6 stages and feet willing try the 87 km to Finisterre (lands end).



On the Astorga to Molinaseca stages I will climb to the highest point of my journey - 1505m above sea level - it also is where the Cruz de Ferro is - one of the abiding symbols of the Camino - I have carried stones from Canada to place there - my guide book kindly points out to travel cautiously - several pilgrims have been killed in recent years - why am I only hearing of this now - oh well I will not miss this stage.



I spend my day blogging (takes a lot more time that I imagined) and wandering the plaza - I realize I do not like non-walking days - I also watch some of the World Cup - Spain is not too happy (as I imagine is Stenio who cheers for Portugal.



I buy a bus ticket to Leon and get a good nights sleep. I have also decided that if my feet do not want to do this anymore I will catch a flight home early. I do not want to spend the next three weeks sitting in Plazas alone - they are meant for family, friends and revolutionaries in love.



20th



I get up late - non walking day - have a cafe con leche and breakfast sandwich - pizza type egg - better than it sounds and catch my bus to Leon. On the bus is Scottish Kyle and a Camino girl friend - he is wearing his kilt and we wish each other buen Camino and goodbye - he will walk from Leon - I will bus forward and try to walk from Astorga.



I have booked a hostel - last treat - I will stay in Albergues from here on out. I get to Leon city centre - same as all the other big cites - sit at a table and order a chicken Caesar salad, hot dog and large beer. A bum sits with me , wearing a 1980 headphones and starts jabbering to me in Spanish whilst rolling himself a cigarette - the waiter asks him to leave - I insist that he stays - I enjoy my meal and the easy banter with my new friend even though I do not understand a word he says.



I head back to my room and blog some more whilst watching France kick butt. I plan to bus to Astorga tomorrow and restart my Camino.



Good night kind readers.



Piss off of the days - goodbyes - to my Tanya, the pilgrims I started this journey with that I will never see again and my original Camino goals



Tip of the days - be flexible



Blessing of the days - new plans new goals and finding my hostel in Leon all on my own - I am getting good at following hand gestures



Funny event of the days - A nice evening dinner in the plaza in Leon with someone I did not have to talk to - I wasn't in the mood anyway - he never did stop talking to me the whole time making it not such a lonely meal.

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