June 26: All Aboard!

I’m sitting in our cabin (sorry, “stateroom”) on the Queen Mary 2. We will be offline for a full 6 days once we leave Southampton. It feels appropriate to go “old school”, simply be present for the crossing.

We remain at human pace - certainly, as compared to flying, taking 7 days to do what a plane can do in 7 hours. Occasionally, during our walk, Carey would Google St Jean. It was always less than 8 hours away by car, even as we were 39 days out by foot (rest days included). This disparity created a joyous sense of scale. We revelled in time and close personal knowledge of the land.

We had prebooked a fast-train from Leon to Madrid, then metro it to the airport and jump on the 5:30pm flight to Heathrow – back in the “real world”.

We arrived at an empty Leon station. Weekend construction was taking place on the line. Our train was cancelled. They told us we should have had an email. Nada. We were (helpfully) directed to the bus station to try to our luck there. Every seat on every bus leaving that day was already booked.

We went online to try get prices on a car. It was 9:30am on a Sunday, for an unplanned one-way, 450km trip to the capital. We got no offers. We walked the taxi line. Most refused and the best price we could get was 500 Euro. We were already checked into our flight; had nowhere to stay; would have to find meals, so we decided to get back on track. We took a car. Our driver cleared our card before switching on the ignition.

When we finally raised our travel agent, they approved our choice. They have already reimbursed us. It was the BEST ride – 3 hours 40 minutes with air conditioning, direct to Departures, a bit (lot) of a scare, but resolved well.

The night before we left for Southampton. Carey caught his foot on the bed. I got a bug bite in Gareth’s garden. Meanwhile, the heatwave played havoc with the British trains. Again, our advance reservation was cancelled. We went to Waterloo first thing and jumped on the first (and, as it turned out, only) train. Once again, situation saved.

Carey’s foot was blue and blistered. We had to get a taxi to our hotel, about 400m from the station. He was in a lot of pain. My bug bite had flared up into a spreading angry rash.

I went to the pharmacy for some hydrocortisone cream. The Pharmacist sent me to Urgent Care, saying it looked like a fast-spreading infection. The round trip (on foot, in 35 degree heat, including waiting time) took about 4 hours. The doctor diagnosed an extreme allergic reaction (thankfully). He prescribed powerful antihistamines and (yes) the hydrocortisone cream wanted mid-morning. But, MUCH better safe than sorry.

We are both already on the mend and have nothing to do but sleep and eat for the next week!

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Inspired by our 2024 Camino Francais, Karen has a periodic podcast called "I sent you a bloody boat", personal thoughts on faith by a person who believes in thinking. Also, known as "The Reluctant Christian". You can listen to it on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts at: