The Tasty Pilgrim

Already at five in the morning all kinds of pilgrims started to get out of bed and get their things packed to go on the Camino. It would be another warm day, you see and if you can make it before twelve to your next destination it will still be agreeable to walk. After that, the sun really starts to beat on your head and even if you do wear a wide brimmed hat, most people get a headache in the end. I just tried to sleep on till seven and then got out of bed for a shower and a shave. In this private refugio in Astorga they serve a great breakfast for 3 Euro, toast and marmalade and orange juice and coffee. Enough to carry you through the morning.  I was joined at table by two ladies from Belgium and they wanted my advice of places to stay for the next stages. Then I sat down at the internet terminal and sent my daily story for the Tasty Pilgrim. Zeus, the Spanish girl who really is the overseer wanted me to come next year and help as a hospitalero. They also had a Spanish guy now as a hospitalero, but as anyone knows he just speaks Spanish and she wants someone like me who can happily welcome pilgrims in all kinds of languages. Said good-bye to her and Lisa Marie and walked to the bus station. The day started well as the bus for Leon was waiting for me. The city of Leon is just an hour away by bus from Astorga. So here I arrived again in the city of Leon with the two cathedrals, but for the second time I got there on a Monday and on Monday morning everything is closed.

Walked to the cathedral and sat down in the main square for a fresh orange juice. The bus to Bilbao would only leave a quarter past three, so I had much time on my hands. First I walked into the cathedral again and admired it architecture and windows with the stained glass depicting all kinds of religious themes. What a wonderful atmosphere it creates in this enormous space. But I still had to pass one more hour so I walked into the old city with its narrow streets and went into the gun shop to have a chat with the owner. At last it was half past twelve. There is a great shop Pan y Delice that opens at half past twelve.  It looks like a McDonalds but then in the Spanish version. None of that bad fast food, but fresh French bread and delicious Spanish filings. I choose a Mediteraneao, which is a great smelling piece of bread and a kind of mixed tuna salad in between. As I had thrown away the old water bottle at Rabanal, I bought a new bottle of water to sip on the bus. I will need that on the long bus ride. Walked back to the bus station and sat down to wait for the bus. A French lady came and sat next to me and greeted me. She recognised me as two weeks ago she had stayed at Gaucelmo. From there she had walked to Santiago de Compostella and enjoyed the pilgrim´s mass in the cathedral. Also for her The Camino had been a great spiritual experience. Now she was taking the bus North as she would stay with some friends in the city of Vitoria which is half way between Leon and Bilbao. Her stay at Gaucelmo she remembered well and my mantra " Welcome to the wonderful world of Gaucelmo" made her day. Nowhere she had been greeted that way. She had also stayed at the refugio L´Esprit du Chemin in St Jean Pied de Port and was fully agreed that L ´Esprit is the best refugio along the Camino. It is the friendly way Huberta and Arno treat their guests and the great dinner we share in the evening. She explained it well. This is your first day on the Camino and you do not know what to expect.

So here you are in L´Esprit and you get all the encouragement and warmth and tender kindness and you lose your trepidations and get the courage to start the Way. Funny that , as a kind of farewell, the Holy Saint sent her along my path. The busride to Bilbao takes several hours. Funny really that we passed to many places of the Camino, but now I am going in the other direction. Twice we stopped in a little village where I could get out for a cafee con leche. After two hours we stopped in a large bus terminal and were told the bus would stay here for half an hour.  I went outside to find a toilet and some coffee and a bocadillo. When I got back it was ten to seven and I saw the bus driving out of the bus terminal. HEART ATTACK !

I really had a shock. All my things disapeared into the distance in that bus ! So I found the information desk and enquired after the bus to Bilbao. Well, the bus had driven off to refuel, but returned in five minutes, I was assured. So I called the hospital and told them to calcel my reservation for the intensive care unit ! In Spain you experience these kind of happenings. Man, was I glad to get to my busseat again and find my belongings there. In the refugio in Astorga I had found an old version of the lonely planet series on Spain and I had taken it along to study. Hotels in Bilbao charge ridiculous prices, but in the book I had found a nice hostal. The description said clean room with bath and the owner likes to chat with you. All this for 17 Euro a day, a real great deal. I called to make a reservation and yes, they had a room for me. Then at last the bus followed the Autopista del Norte, a new highway that cuts right through the mountains before it reaches the coast. This part of Spain is called the Picos de Europa and very well known among tourists. In the morning you can enjoy beach life and after the siësta you walk up the mountains. The autopista is a real feat of engineering, taking us along steep mountains and across deep vallies. You imagine to be in the Swiss alps ! At last it was down down down for miles on end to the coast. Unfortunately before we arrived at Bilbao there were traffic jams the result of car accidents. So here I find myself at Bilbao bus station at ten in the evening and I have to find my hostal in the old city center. Went to the information office. The lady advised take the underground.

No, I thought and went out for a taxi. It seems there are only two taxi cabs in this city and nearly a hundred people waiting in line. So I gave up and walked to the underground station. It said it had been designed by and Englishman, got immediate halucinations of filthy trains and platforms. Life has ups and downs and this news was a downer. I just follwed the other passengers down and down and at last came to some automated ticket machines. A kind Spanish railway lady helped me to choose the right ticket and told me to take the left platform. My " muchas grazias followed by muy sympatico" almost resulted in a marriage proposal. So I got on the train and noticed I had to get off at the station called Casco Viejo. Here I am in the dark streets of the antique medieal city and not knowing which way to walk. But kind gentleman told me to take the first street on the left and just walk to the very end. There I would have to ask again. So I happened to pass a bar carrying the name Rotterdam and I stepped inside and asked for the Calle Jardines. The result was a shoulder shrug. Next barman said the street Jardines runs paralel to the one I am in. Yes, I found it and the address of the hostal. Nice clean room and bathroom. Took the bus at nine in the morning and now it is passed ten in the evening ! At last I get that sorely needed shower first and put on clean clothes. That felt much better and now for some dinner. Just a few steps away I see the words restaurant and step inside. It is called Chino Jardin, meaning Chinese garden. And so it was a Chinese restaurant filled with many 

Americans. Not bad for a change, I thought and ordered sopa marisco - fish soup and fried rice with gambas. The fishsoup turned out to be shark fin soup, delicate aroma and strange taste. I had a tinto da la casa with it, which was a bottle of Rioja wine. Nice combination with the fish soup. The fried rice and gambas were just o.k. the way I make it is much much tastier ! But I was hungry and is not there a saying " hunger makes raw beans sweet" Had another plate of rice and enjoyed the Rioja. All this for 12 Euro, I´m always so astonished how they prepare meals at such low prices. Found the hostal again and had another shower and slept " the sleep of the innocent" .