León is Way Too Big!

The Way to Santiago de Compostela passes manly through small towns and villages. In many cases these villages are dead and rely heavily on the pilgrims as their primary source of revenue. Most times these towns are a great source of reprieve for tired pilgrims, offering us cold water, a great cup of coffee and/or a quick snack in order to get ready for the next set of kilometres. Along The Way there are a few big cities that come up: Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, León and Lugo. Many pilgrims plan their rest days or low-mileage days for these big city stops in order to have the opportunity to visit these places. I am not one of those pilgrims, seeing I don't enjoy big cities, especially when I'm hiking.

For the most part I have been able to avoid the business of these cities by either arriving really early and leaving early the next day, or by simply moving on to the next village with an aubergue. Unfortunately, today there was no avoiding León and worse we arrived there at peak time, meaning that it was buzzing with people.

My days are filled with large periods of silence - except when I decide to sing - and calmness; needless to say there was a bit of culture shock when I got into the city. Very quickly I became overwhelmed and over-stimulated and after visiting the Cathedral I wanted to get out of the centre of the city as fast as possible. 

The business of León made me think of my life during a typical school year - a lot of beautiful and interesting things and commitments - but when everything's happening at once it can feel a bit chaotic. I don't want to be a pilgrim wandering forever seeking quiet and calmness, but perhaps there's ways to incorporate the things hat I appreciate about this journey into my everyday life back home. I have about 15 days before arriving in Finisterre (3 day hike from Santiago de Compostela) to discern how to find the "juste milieu." How about you, how do you find calm amongst the chaos?

- Buen Camino