Day 21 - Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon

Outside the church at Mansilla de las Mulas, the pilgrim presses on - as we did soon after 7am.

There's been a lot of chat about today's stage. Last night at a typically noisy dinner with the Aussies Scott and David (and from England, Mark and Helen) we discussed the fact that both the guide books we had access to were suggesting that you just get a bus all the way, or at least once you hit the outskirts of Leon.

We were a bit nonplussed. Our plan was to walk the Camino, including the Meseta, which some people scorn - and certainly the walk through the industrial zone and city streets of Leon - without being too cosmic, it's all part of the journey.

Please excuse our smugness, but it's easy to overthink all this - it's just a walk when all's said and done, although I expect a storm of comments saying that it's much more than this - please sign your name or identify yourself when you comment though.

Our hotel didn't have eating facilities, so gave us a breakfast voucher for a cafe in town. That never really works. The bar owner has no stake in upholding the name of the hotel, so you get a coffee, orange juice, and something else, while chubby local workers slouch in, drink coffee and read the newspaper. This morning the 'something' was a piece of pastry rumoured to have some apple in it. There was a pale green paste somewhere, but it was really just a dry piece of pastry, Breakfast? Not a hope.

And so we left town, past the ancient fortress of Lancia (not where they made the Italian cars). Our guidebook says: "Here the indigenous Asturians, despite their heroic defense, met their demise at the hands of the Roman legions. Artefacts have also been recovered from the Neolithic period".

Caught in a bubble of noisy hikers by Puente Ingente.

As we'd read, the trail followed the road and although it wasn't rural splendour, it was pleasant enough. A relatively new section of path across what should have been Rio Moro (we didn't see a single chocolate bar) took us alongside the wonderful 'Giant Bridge' - Puente Ingente, with its 20 arches.

We passed through the village of Villarente at about 6km. We were walking very slowly. I was feeling very lethargic and my damaged hamstring was considering things. As long as I walked slowly I felt comfortable enough and it was only the difference between our normal speed of 4.5km/h and my slow speed of just over 4km/h - the lesson being that you gain nothing by pushing past your comfort zone. I should say I was walking very slowly. Cathie walked a little quicker, but never got out of sight. I had a new audio book - The Exhibitionist, by Charlotte Mendelson, which was entertaining enough and helped the time pass.

After 10km we walked through Arcahueja. The village straddled the highway, but there were several little bars. We chose one at random. It had seats outside. While I ordered coffee and tortilla, Cathie murmured that she was sitting outside. I thought that she meant on the street, but while I stood waiting to pay, the man behind the counter gestured to a courtyard garden, to which he'd already delivered our order. 

It was a lovely courtyard, Cathie was waiting there, chatting to Mark and Helen from last night's dinner. Feeling vastly fortified, we wandered on. 

Tracey from Canada walked briskly by. I made my excuses, while Cathie and Tracey marched on. I was still protecting my hamstring, so happy to drift behind.

We walked alongside roadways, across foot bridges and around roundabouts as Leon hove into view.

The temperature was rising as we walked the city streets. Because it wasn't a long day, we were well on track to arrive soon after noon, so at one stage we stopped beside a busy street when we found a bench under a shade-giving tree.

It didn't seem too long until we were passing through the walls of the old city.

As we approached its heart, we were overwhelmed by crowds out for their Sunday activity. Churches and bars were flat out, the streets were full of well-dressed people.

We knew we were close to our hotel, so when we spotted a supermarket, we wandered in for bread without hard crusts, cheese, ham, olives, mustard, butter, beer, snickers - all the little things that made life good.

We spotted Scott and Mark at a bar having a beer, Rich and Willow at another, but we pressed on to our hotel, right by the cathedral. Scott and David hadn't quite seized the opportunity to catch a bus. To our delight, our room has a fridge. Sadly, it doesn't work. After a shower, beer and a wonderful sandwich, we went to a supermarket even closer and bought ice, so we could at least pretend we had a fridge.

We met Lauren, an Australian from a few days ago and also Rich and Willow, eating ice creams from the gourmet shop close to our hotel.

Later. We've had a siesta. The noise outside has abated, the temperature has dropped. 

Here's today's Relive video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDA13Q8Lv

Here's today's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/V3EDY1aFvtkrRHsYA

As for today's music. I had a Peter Skellern song in my head. Rich made another suggestion, which I've forgotten. Last night we were talking about Rickie Lee Jones and Tom Waits and our wedding song came to mind. For those unfamiliar with our little tale. We met two years ago, when I was 71 and Cathie was a mere child at 63. We were married last October. Here's our wedding song: https://youtu.be/DEzhvWmkKaU

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