The first day of our pilgrimage turned out to be even better than we had expected. Sean met Brother Ronald and Brother Paul at the airport in Madrid and accompanied us to the train station. Realizing we were there far ahead of our scheduled departure, we took a taxi to the neighborhood where Sean has been teaching summer classes and had a quick snack before returning to the train station. The short train ride to Leon was fast and comfortable. After checking into our hostel, which is part of a large complex of a small community of Benedictine sisters, we walked around Leon for a short while, enjoyed a wonderful tour of the magnificent cathedral, and then attended evening mass with the Benedictine sisters and several other local individuals. After mass, the priest gave all Camino pilgrims a special blessing. A wonderful surprise occurred when the Sister Superior of the monastery invited all of us to join the sisters for a simple social in honor of their founder Saint Benedict, whose feast was that day. We got to meet several of the sisters who are a delightful group of mostly elderly nuns. Then we had an enjoyable evening meal together, returning to the hostel around 10 o’clock. By 10:30 we were definitely ready for bed.
From time to time, Brother Ronald will be posting photos of each day.