Leon to Arzua April 13 to April 21

Hello All,
Well much has happened since my last update and all good.....

Palm Sunday in Leon was special.
Processions, bands all day.
Mass in the cathedral.A very nice man invited me to his house with his wife/son plus the parish priest and some members of the choir for lunch.

Beautiful weather, sat outside in the courtyard and drank some wine.We had paellela, salad and partridge.The parrish priest spent some years in Durban South Africa and so we had something in common.He spoke English and that was good because no one else did....(except me )

I was honored to be invited. (I probably looked like a sad Grey fellow allll  on his own.......)

After Leon I went to Hospital De Orbiga  then Astorga and started the climb to Rabanal.

The mountain rises to  1500m or 5,000 feet and Rabanal is at 1150 m or 3,770 feet.The weather was hot and clear.

The weather was great all the way until the last mile and then rain came......Weather changes quickly in the mountains......I sat in  a woodshed sm by a farmhouse for about an  hour comtemplating.......till the rain stopped.

Rabanal - April 16:
Got a room over a small supermarket. I was the only guest.Dinner on my own served by the lady of the house. She left me in the small lounge watching Real Madrid play Barcelona (football semi final) with some wine.

Locked the shop. "Help yourself to anything you want and tell me in the morning...."  and with that she went off home. My first time overnight in a supermarket.....

Had vespers in the Benedictine Monastery prior to dinner.The abbot knows the Abbott in Belmont N.C. Nice fellow to talk to, who made me feel welcome.Its been many years since I heard vespers - these were in latin.

So I met these two school teachers  from Ireland in Rabanal and.....

(Small attempt at a limeric....)

"There once were two  fellows from Ireland,
Who carried packs as big as the Island,
To me they did say , we notice today,
Your pack-is-tiny, we  say......"

No. I said.
I'm an American.......not a Pakistani.....

April 17th:
I climbed to the Cruz De Ferro (Iron cross) a big tradition of the Camino.......and then lost all my sense if humor on the extremely rough descent to Molinaseca.

Still no Americans on the trip.Quite a few Irish families, French, Spanish, Dutch, German; Swiss.

April 18 missed 60k(48m) because of time and took the bus to Sarria from Ponteferrada.

Weather closed in and rained April 19 through today the 21.

Had a cold night in a converted farmhouse outbuilding. Very little hot water.Countryside looks like the Chevin in Derbyshire England where Sue comes from.

Came face - to - nose with a cow and 30 of her best friends on the road through  a farmyard.They all stopped and looked me over 'till the farmer came out and said something like ..." Oh don't be silly girls....it's just one of those smelly bearded things with sticks.... "

I hope you all had a grand Easter and the bunny dropped off lots of eggs.

I hope Sue cornered the market on Marshmallow eggs and Mini eggs for me.

My invention:
Shower/Vasmachine:
Saves water.Saves time.Saves energy.
Start shower Regulate temperature.Enter shower with shirt,underwear and socks in place....I.e. on the body....

Soap shirt sleeves,collar, armpits, underwear and socks.Careful not to slip.
Remove all items of clothing and rub vigorously.  Rinse. Wash body.

Rinse clothes. Turn off shower....and presto,finished.Wring out clothes and hang to dry....

System well proven over 4 weeks....

Well three more nights until Santiago and the end of my trip on April 24th.

I plan to meet Sue's brother Mike in the square in front of the Cathedral at 10:30 a.m. on April 24th.

I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to seeing Mike.We'll have four days to look around and maybe go down to Finnisterre on the coast by car......no more walking until the Pine Lake Country Club Golf course......

I do miss you all.

Thanks again Sue for letting me go on my trip.

Thanks to Kate for arranging the Easter surprise.

My best regards,

John