Today Was Interesting…

Surprises Everywhere!

At 9:00 am yesterday morning,  I travelled 400 Km by train to Leon, Spain.

Prior to leaving San Sebastián, I noticed how rough the surf was. It was odd, but beautiful.

I REALLY loved my time in Bilbao and San Sebastián. Basque Country is stunning g and the people are lovely. I struggled with accent here (Who am I kidding because I struggle with Spanish every day) but I did well!

Now it’s time to get ready to hike!

On the map below, you can see that I went from #1- San Sebastián (Basque Country and close to the border of France) to #2 – Leon in the heart of Castile y Leon. My Spanish will be easier to use over the next few weeks!

I have always enjoyed train travel here, but yesterday was different. I was expecting one of the modern high-speed trains to pull in and take me on my journey, but that’s not what I got.

I found myself instead in the cattle run train. It had 2 cars, was old, and did the milk run!

I finally got settled and then we made a stop.  About six people came on, of which two were an elderly couple who sat in the row across from me. After a few minutes, people were sniffing because they were sensing a very foul odour. It was horrible! It was this elderly couple. They stunk like fish. 🐟🐟🐟🐟

People were making faces! I had 2 more hours to go and I didn’t want to smell fish!

The  conductor came to check their tickets and discovered that they were a day late for their train trip .  I was eavesdropping (I was proud since it was a conversation in Spanish). The problem was that the train had already pulled out of the station so what was it going to do just throw them off in the middle of the field? It might have solved the stench problem.

They allowed them to stay. It turned out that they had just bough fresh fish at the market and had it with them. It was such an awful stench. The conductor moved them to seats in the other car!!

My other issue was the guy beside me who kept snoring for 4  hours. It was a very long trip!

Leon;

I wrote a lot about the city in my blog from last year because I absolutely love it and it is truly beautiful . The cathedral is amazing even though it’s being restored.

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This was my fabulous lunch that I ate.  I remember this restaurant from last year and I ordered this exact same salad.  I was ecstatic to see that they had it on the menu and I immediately gorged myself on this wonderful lunch and one of my favourite places to eat here in Leon

 

 

I ended up going back to the same place for a late dinner because my massive salad in the afternoon was so delicious.  How can you go wrong with an order a fresh bay of Biscay calamari and a green salad ? It was enough to serve 6 people! LOL

The lady beside me leaned over and said excuse me but are you possibly going to eat all that. Her husband or partner appeared mortified by her question.

I replied “ of course I can’t eat all this but you two can help”.

They laughed and said no. After talking a bit, we decided to make it a table of three and shared all the food that we ordered which made it a wonderful dinner.

As it turns out they were from Vancouver and quite a bit of fun! I’ve never met a person from Vancouver I have not liked.

They were mid way through their Camino Hike. I really enjoyed their company and the laughter.

None if us could finish the food that we ordered, but the wine went down well.

I am one week into my trip. Hiking starts in 3 days. Meeting them tonight, helped me get into the mindset of what lies ahead and I really appreciated that. I also appreciated having people to talk to while I was eating and feeling like a normal person because being here alone can sometimes be a challenge.

Today, I leave for Lugo. I’m there 2 nights and then the hiking begins! I have covered a lot of country in 2 days!

Hi 

I must say that each place that I have been to in Spain has its own unique charm. It’s nit a hard country to fall in love with.

KEEP WALKING!