Leaving Leon for Santiago

Our  last leisurely morning in Leon, we packed up after breakfast and settled our account. We left our bags with the concierge and sat out in the square in the sun. It was getting too warm so we decided to pass the time in the hotel bar having our favourite beer.... cruzcampos.
Our train to Santiago was at 2:45 so just after two we started a slow walk to the station......suitcase will need new wheels after this vacation, cobbled streets are hard on more than your feet.
Soon we were back on the train for our 5 hour trip, happy to report that our seats were facing in the forward direction once more!
There is not much to do on a train but read your book, sleep or chat up your fellow passengers. Jeff met a German fellow who was wearing a tshirt with the name of an American town on it.....where we were about a month ago.......he left the train at the next stop saying ....say hello to Arizona for me! The train is what is called local and so stops at lots of towns along the way.....one fellow passenger gets out at every stop and smokes as many cigarettes as he can before getting back on again.  Spain has rules now about smoking on trains, inside restaurants and other public places, so it is better than it used to be. We are still amazed at how many people, young and old still smoke.  It is really quite astonishing, Vancouver/BC and other parts of Canada are miles ahead in that department.
The countryside of Spain is very beautiful, green and well manicured. The train does not follow the pilgrim route so we did not see many pilgrims unless we were in towns where they were often getting on the train ! It made me very curious to know why they were not walking!!!!
We arrived in  Santiago at 8pm, still quite light out. We got a taxi to our Moure Hotel (7euros). This was my 3rd visit to the hotel as the pilgrim girls and I had stayed here on both our visits to Santiago. Jeff really likes it....quite modern, small but very functional and friendly young staff, coffee available 24 hrs, breakfast available, fruit, croissants, juice....just perfect.
We checked into our room and hurried out to catch a flavour of the town before it got dark. On exiting our hotel we literally bumped into two ladies who,had been on the same coach as us all the way from Leon. We were all going across the street to the sister Hotel of the Moure for a drink in their stunning garden so we set off together and sat down in the garden to share our stories. Susan and  Marge were from California and had walked a small portion of the Camino due to time restrictions. Today was Susan's birthday so we insisted on buying their drinks. We told them quite a bit about my previous Caminos and Jeff said ....you should read her blog.....so of course they went off with the address. No doubt we will see them as are they not only in the same hotel but they will be on the same flight out of Santiago to Madrid as us on Thursday! What a coincidence !
We went two doors down the street to an Italian restaurant where we had a little dinner and a little wine!
Back at our hotel we decided to have a coffee before retiring to our room.....I got an excellent one  and then the machine stopped working! Poor Diego was beside himself as the hotel (12 rooms) was full and people like their morning coffee .  Diego across the street to the sister hotel as he insisted Jeff should have a coffee...meanwhile Jeff fixed the machine .....I think he just kicked it!!!! Diego was happy!
Tomorrow will be exciting....I can't wait to see what Jeff thinks of the cathedral ,  we intend to go to 12 o'clock mass.
Buenos Noches!