Tales of Knights and Damsels and Roman Bridges

The bridge at Hospital de Orbigo that dates from Roman
times, where medieval knights strutted their stuff.

It felt like we left León with a hangover, but in reality it was two things: a) the dismal suburbs west of the city that resulted in a half day of slogging along on bleak sidewalks, and b) our sadness at having to leave such a wonderful town. León definitely was a high point of the Camino with its combination of rich history, great architecture, rich nightlife, and pilgrim subculture. Sitting at a cafe on Calle Atoche one can watch the Camino march right by as pilgrims from all over the world funnel into the old city to soothe their blisters and whet their appetites.


It's now clear that our ragtag group of walkers consists of two pilgrims styles. We'll call them the "walkers" and the "runners."* Some of our group enjoy a leisurely stroll through the countryside, noticing flowers and stopping for photos of mountains and buying an extra ice cream bar at an alimentación. Others of us sprint ahead and quick rack up the miles. The runners include Bart, Jackie, Elissa, and yours truly. The rest are walkers, with the exception of Susan and Gwynne who stick to a slower pace, but relentlessly accumulate miles under their feet.

At Hospital de Orbigo. Front frow from left: Elissa and
Dana. Rear, from left: Bart, Erin Elaine, Alison, Sandy,
and Susan. 

The first day out of León we managed a good, long day of walking, surprising ourselves with a 37 km journey that landed us at Hospital de Orbigo. The town is named for a pilgrim hospital from the Middle Ages and the Camino crosses the River Orbigo on a long bridge here, surprisingly long for the tiny river below. In Roman times, when the bridge was built, the river followed a broad, shallow track at this point. Now its channel is narrow and deep. Over the centuries the bridge has accumulated a hefty amount of folklore. Here's a description of some of its history from a Camino cultural guide:

A strategic point on the Roman route connecting the Roman city of Astorga and the silver mines of the Bierzo region with France, the town has witnessed many battles in its long history. The Suevi and the Visigoths met in battle here in the fifth century, and four centuries later Alfonso III defeated the Moors and recaptured the city for the kingdom of León.

However, it was not any of these military engagements that made the town´s name famous for all time, but a contest of a more romantic nature that took place in the mid-15th century. That was when a Leonese knight named Suero de Quiñones issued a challenge to the best lances in all of Europe, vowing to meet them in battle for 30 days on the stone bridge that spans the river in order to prove his devotion for an unnamed noble lady who had rejected his declaration of love. Some 300 jousts and one month later, having proved his love for his lady and considering himself released from what he regarded as his "prison of love", the victorious knight removed the iron collar he had worn around his neck as a symbol of his enslavement of love and took to the Camino de Santiago as a pilgrim. Upon arrival at the cathedral, he deposited a jewel-encrusted golden bracelet as a symbol of his release from the prison in which love had kept him prisoner. The bracelet can still be seen around the neck of a bust of St. James the Lesser in the cathedral museum in Santiago.

The albergue at Hospital de Orbigo was a delight, with artfully painted walls and handcrafted stone floors. To be honest, the uneven floors were a little painful for our tender feet, but nothing could stop us from enjoying the great pilgrim company of new international friends and the nice tastes of a nearby Italian (!) restaurant. Tomorrow, Astorga!

And whose knight in shining armor
might this be?

*Our exercise miles continue to accumulate. Elissa, Jackie, Bart, and Sandy are training for a marathon and half-marathon on April 16, so their miles are accumulating rapidly. As of Week 5 the individual totals are: Bart, 115; Jackie, 102.8; Sandy, 94.6; Susan 94, Gwynne, 93.3; Elissa, 81.9; Alison, 59.3; John 58.9; Erin Elaine, 49; Dana, 24; Greta, 19.5; Jeanne, 4; Dawn, 4; Lisa,3. Team Charles has pulled out to a commanding lead with 433.3 miles, while Team John is pulling up the rear with 376.5. 

We Say Good Bye to León, Our Favorite Camino City

In front of the León Cathedral, from left: Sandy (thin from
miles of walking), Bart, Mr. Steves, John. Bottom: Jackie.

It's hard to think of an America city to compare with León, Spain. For one thing, very few Americans cities have an old city center like European cities, that medieval core that often was encircled by high, stone walls for protection from roving armies and bandits. The old walls shelter old buildings, separated by narrow streets with cozy shops. But for another thing, few American cities have anything like the European paseo, the leisurely evening stroll designed for light shopping and people-watching. Add to that the Spanish custom of eating a very late (9:00 p.m. to midnight) supper and you can see why León is such a fun town: it buzzes with people in the evening.

Mid-13th century Cathedral de Santa Maria de León,
one of Europe's finest examples of High Gothic

On our first night in León we needed rest, which was a fine thing since our albergue, run by the local Catholic nuns, had a curfew of 9:30 p.m. That meant we were fed, watered and prayed over before bed, but it also meant we missed what was going on outside the convent's walls. The next night we stayed at the Posada Regia which opened up León's amazing night life.


The night started at 9:00 with tapas at a series of bars just below the amazing cathedral (more on that later). The streets were already filling with families, grandparents, and small groupings of young people. After a relaxing couple of hours snacking on tapas, we began to worry about whether anything would be open for dinner. We decided to head to head to the Plaza Mayor and discovered that the restaurants were only just now opening. We enjoyed an even more relaxed dinner of menu del peregrino, and by midnight were surprised to discover that the streets were becoming even more crowded! Doors in some of the narrowest alleys now were opening, to expose bar after bar, club after club, disco after disco. The age group in the streets now consisted mostly of people in their 20's and 30's and clearly we were in party central. 


There was no curfew at our hotel and, since your pilgrimage guide was of course the first one back to his room, he has no idea when the others made it in. Except that Alison, Jackie, Jeanne, and John had a pretty tough time getting up the next day for our tours of local churches!

11th century Basilica of San Isidoro, whose frescoes are
one of Spain's medieval treasures

After a stiff cafe con leche or two the next morning we were ready for sightseeing. Our first stop was the beautiful Cathedral de León, one of the most elegant cathedrals in all of Europe. We witnessed a wedding inside one of the side chapels, with the bride in a beautiful and flowing white dress and the handsome, dark-haired Spanish men in black tuxedos. Afterward it was off to the Basilica de San Isidoro, whose frescoes are some of the best examples of Romanesque art in all of Europe. We opted for a lunch of luxury at the Parador de León, a medieval pilgrim hostel that has been made over into a hotel of the government-owned chain of Paradors.


After lunch we sat at a cafe near the cathedral and began to plot the next stages of our journey. After León we recognize that we were set for about 8 kms of walking through bleak suburbs to get back into the countryside. We agreed that our goal is to walk the whole Camino, so no buses or cabs for us. We'd brave the entire walk no matter how grim. We looked ahead in our guidebooks to the next big city -- Astorga, and identified this as our next likely overnight. At Astorga we would begin the climb over our final mountain range, the Montañas de Leon.
(Congrats to our walkers, whose totals now have allowed us another 120 kilometers, meaning this week we'll be just short of Galicia, the semi-autonomous jurisdiction of which Santiago de Compostela is capitol. Team Charles is leading the way with a total of 348 miles with Team John pulling up the rear with 314).