getting to León

Returning to Wetherby and I've seen the gulf between it and me extend into new territory. Those faces I observe going through their routine of accommodating death and rarely pushing back against its seeming inflexibility ... But it's got to be in me to see it another way? That's always the case. It's a safe space in which to weed the garden. There is little chance that rockets are going to fall on our sleeping restless heads?

Arrived an hour late to Santander as Ryanair had to change aircraft in Dublin. The Boeing was a newer 737 (Max 8200) with an additional two emergency exits and a different arrangement of toilets to the rear, indeed the plane seemed longer and narrower, but that's probably an illusion ...

Dropped off my bag at Pension Anglines and went to get a late night dinner and then crashed out. A bit restless at first as I wasn't sure what to do this morning, after the BlaBlaCar host cancelled the direcft trip to León, so I put the alarm on for 6am and slept through. After a hasty toilet I am on the train towards Alicante which calls into Palencia. From there I can get to León and start west again as of Monday.

That's the thing about getting to the Camino Frances, after France, as it's not that close to any major city and/or airport hub. I saw that someone was going to A Coruña through BlaBlaCar, but that's simply too close to the Camino Ingles which is the only way I've managed to Santiago before.

The routes I've walked from Alicante(2019) and Madrid(2022) converge at Astorga which is just after León. Unlike during the medieval period I can drop in and out of the route like I am picked up by a novelty toy grabber and displaced across Europe.

The long process of getting to the beginning of the next stage of the Way is in itself a different kind of hell from walking everyday for only God knows why?

Unfortunately the train passed straight through Frómista around 9am: a reasonable time to hop off and go west. But I am jaded from the long drag and walking distance today would be foolish.

Palencia has a wonderful cathedral and an interesting bridge/river area, but on a cold windy morning I spent around an hour wondering around the TARDIS of San Antolin before catching the express from Madrid to León at 11:10am.

Modern fast speed travel has no feeling. It is literally faceless with it's sleak whiteness on the Avanti and people are not really there - although I was feeling unclean and exhausted so was utterly self-conscious of the higher class traveller.