LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) – From August 23 to August 30 Father David Sanchez covered ground from the village of El Burgo Ranero to Hospital de Órbigo in Spain’s León province.
With less-demanding hikes, Sanchez is now regularly completing his daily walk before noon, leaving him time to enjoy the towns and villages he stays in along the way.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Excerpts have been taken directly from Sanchez’s blog at wherespadre.org.
“I am experiencing the solitude of the walkers. Today someone apologized to me, because he was walking 50 meters behind me.
“Now El Camino is flat and as other peregrinos say: it is boring. I don’t find it boring, but a mental challenge, therefore I have fun with it. I sing, I count trees, I think about all of you, which I laugh, in a good sense. I run with my backpack. Mentally I know how many km I have walked, I am certainly sure how many km are left. When I see church steeples, I think about St. Joseph, and it is an average of 5 to 6 km to reach the next town.
“It has become a normality now that in every village the children come out to play by the village streets after 10pm. During the day you cannot hear a pin hitting the floor in any village. But late at night, it is school yard central! We are all in bed and we can hear the kids playing late at night.
“I like to sit at the entrance of the villages to see the peregrinos that walk 30-40 km a day. They always pass by the villages around 5:30pm. I know, because I experienced it myself in France. It is so cool to see yourself in their efforts.”
On Saturday, Sanchez reached the large city of León. Founded in the 1st century B.C., León is now home to over 200,000 inhabitants and serves as the capital of the León province. Being ahead of schedule on his walk allowed Sanchez to take three days off from the trail, which he spent meeting people in León and visiting with friends who had a special connection to St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Butchertown.
“It was only 17 km on my plan for today, but because I finished by 9:00am I went for 20 more km. I feel good about it, because I will take three days off in Lyon to visit with Gelo, Marjorie, and Luisito. I married them at St. Joseph, and I baptized the baby in Madrid. Now they are coming from Madrid to spend the weekend with me. I am looking forward to see them tomorrow.
“I had a good sleep in El Burgo Ranero, therefore I woke up by 5am. I was walking by 5:20am. There was a young man in front of me trying to get out of town, but he was going in the wrong direction. I follow the dark street. Five minutes later he found the way, and walked behind me for 10 km.
“The sky was so active that I turned my light off. It was a new night screen. Many falling stars were rushing through the sky. No cars, no people in front of me, only a train was rushing through the sunflowers fields next to me. The trail was parallel to the road. Beautiful trees have been planted next to the trail for the past 100km. They were planted 3 years ago looks like, but they are going to give a great shade to the peregrines in the future.
“My plan was to stop at Mansilla de Mulas, but it was so early that after coffee and toasts, I kept going to León.
“León is a magnificent city. It is full of action. People everywhere. All the business to capacity. I will stay here till Monday resting.
“I went to get something to eat last night, and every establishment was full. Therefore, I went to get a baguette with ham iberico, and manchego cheese, and ate walking by the streets. I stopped at a bar for a drink across the Cathedral when!!!
“Luisa arrived! From nowhere Luisa pulled a chair and said: do you think that I don’t know you? C’mon, I just arrived to town, I said. I think she was messing up with me, but when she said, are you from Puerto Rico, right? My heart started to feel a heartache! I just did not have a clue how she knew so much about me. I thought she was reading my mind.
“Luisa was in her 80’s. She owns two blocks of buildings across the cathedral. Her husband owned the electric equipment store at the corner, now her son runs it. She talked to me for over two hours. She knew every secret in town. It was magical. Perfect for a Garcia Marquez’ novel.
“She got the Puerto Rico from my accent, as I ordered my drink. She just love to talk to people in the square and enjoy the evenings. I was her date for the night. I had a great time.
“Another peregrino from South Africa, in his second Camino this year, joined me and invited me for a drink. He is a collector of first editions books. We had a great conversation about life and joy. I was so please when he said: I enjoy to talk to people that always bring joy and happiness to others, and you have that gift. I had found everything on the way.
“It was getting late and cold. I walk back to my place. I got jealous to see everyone eating ice cream so late and cold night that I bought one too. Walnuts was the flavor. In addition I bought a Saint Isidore Pastry. Yum! Yum!”
After a full day of visiting on Sunday, Sanchez decided to get back on the trail and left León Sunday evening, continuing his trek west to the village of La Virgen del Camino.
“I was not sure if staying in León one more night. It was real late to start walking, but I went for 6 more km. The Sun was in front of me, and a big hill was ready to embrace me. Crossing the river, I passed three suburbs of León: the green, the blue, and the white. At the top of the hill was the village of La Virgen the Camino, where I found the first visible shelter. There I went to the Basilica and concelebrate mass at 8:30pm with a wonderful Dominican Order priest.
“Returning to the albergue for peregrinos, I found a Brazilian man struggling with his feet. I offered to heal his blisters, and anoint his feet with balm. He accepted my offer, and we chat about his Brazilian City, close to Uruguay. He asked me at the end, how much was my service. I told him to go to church and give a donation in his return to Brazil. Now it is time to go to bed…”
Tuesday’s walk from La Virgen del Camino to Hospital de Órbigo was flat and easy, as Sanchez is rewarded in the seventh week of his journey for his hard hiking through France in the early stages of the trek.
“The majority of this stage is a solitary path where you enter into yourself and let God speak to you. Every thing started from La Virgen del Camino and passing by Villadangos del Páramo, where I stayed last night at the albergue located at the old school at the entrance of the village.
“Only 6 of us stayed there last night. It was very quiet, therefore I decided to walk by the village which really had two streets. I run to the pharmacy to get some feet lotion and toiletries. Then I went to the local grocery store to get some lunch to eat. The owner of the groceries store was a very welcoming young man. He had done El Camino in previous years and recommended me some good small villages where the food was delicious, and I should stop by.
“Today, the section was flat and easy to cover. Arriving to Hospital del Orbigo, the beauty of the historical Orbigo bridge makes you stop to enjoy the magnificent architecture of the XIII Century. I will stay here today at the Parochial albergue. Mass will be at 8pm, and the local priests has a presentation at 9pm in our place.
“Now I am going to tour the village and get some lunch.”
You can see select excerpts from Father Sanchez’s blog every week right here on WHAS11.com.
Sanchez’s full blog and additional photographs can be found at wherespadre.org.
