May 29, 2023 - Day 29 - to Leòn - 11.8 miles - +750’ - -615’

Sally and Becky slept in a bit today. I was up at 5:50am and out the door but 6:10am. Sally is taking the bus to Leòn today. Becky and I are walking, but on different time schedules. 

It was 50° and clear when I stepped into the streets of Mansilla. The birds were loud and raucous. The sun not up yet, but lighting the horizon. No wind. I felt good and started off about 3+ mph. The route was right next to a two lane highway and absolutely straight and flat for the first three miles. I took a break at 6 miles in a little pilgrim picnic shelter built in the memory of someone. Had a couple mouthfuls of bread washed down with Propel. Soon I was walking alongside freeways and traffic exchanges as I entered the city of Leòn. I came upon a permanent booth set up to welcome pilgrims. I stopped and got my Credential stamped and a sucker, then continued into the city. 

Sally called to tell me she had caught an earlier bus, the 8:25 instead of the 9:20. She called later to say she was at our room in Leòn and it was great. Also, I got a text from Carole and Christine saying they could meet us in the plaza at the cathedral. I walked the last mile or so into the heart of the city. I was in familiar territory now and recognized the hotel and square we stayed at last time as I approached the cathedral. I passed by the Gaudí building on my way. I got to the room about 10:30am, washed up a bit, had a cheese sandwich and headed out the door with Sally to meet C & C. We found them at a cafe having coffee. They are such a joy. Lyle and Lori came by and sat at the adjoining table. We had a nice visit with lots of laughter. When Lucky Luke from Germany showed up we asked him to take a group picture of the six of us, but he misunderstood and thought we wanted him in the picture and sat down next to Christine. Lori took a couple photos, then we had Luke take a couple of the six of us. He never did figure out his misunderstanding, which tickled us all. Shortly, C & C we’re on there way. Sally and I walked back to the room, shed our sweaters and walked to the restored pilgrim hostel, now a swanky luxury hotel. Last time we were here it was being renovated and we anxious to see the finished product. It is one of the Paradors-a historic building that is refurbished by the government and then sold to a hotel company. They have done this all over Spain to preserve historic buildings. 

This one was started in 1152 as a hospital and way station for pilgrims on their way to Santiago. It was torn down and rebuilt in its present form in the 1500’s. 

Now it is amazing. The outside is magnificent, the inside modern with the old showing tastefully throughout. Sally and I walked in as if we were staying there and wandered freely. The old cloister is now a stylish sitting room and bar open to the art adorned ceiling 4 stories up. On each floor the walls are graced with large art pieces. 

The adjoining cloister is still open to the sky with gardens. The church is well preserved and attached. We enjoyed walking through the complex and saw no one on our journey. 

Back on the street we headed to our room, stopping for groceries on the way. As we approached the hostel we saw Becky entering the door. We found her with the clerk registering for the room. Her shin splints got worse on the walk today and she was obviously in pain and limping. Sally had thought to buy ice when we were at the store and helped her ice on/ice off every 20 minutes throughout the afternoon. I sat in our bay window and read and wrote while the thunderstorm passed over, booming, flashing and dropping rain. 

We cooked tortellini and vegetables for dinner in the sparsely furnished kitchen, then walked to the cathedral for evening lighting and a chance to see the city again before we called it a day. We ran into about 6 people we knew as we walked the streets.  Sally bought another scarf to replace the one she lost a week ago. 

What a great day. Leòn is such a clean and beautiful city. Tomorrow we take the day off from walking-a zero day. We will tour the cathedral, but mostly lie around letting body parts heal. 

Amazing bridge just outside León

Cool graphic on a building I passed while walking into Leòn

The trail parallels the freeway for a bit

If you look closely, you can see the cathedral of León peeking over the hill to the right


More storks and stork nests 

Kiosk for pilgrims just as you enter León

Lori, Lyle(Alberta Canada), Christine, Carol(Australia), Sally and I


Sally and Parricia(France) and the León cathedral

Us and the historic pilgrim hospital and hostel, now a parador hotel. 

The inside of the parador. This is the old cloister. 

Roof of the cloister. 

Outdoor cloister

Library between outdoor cloister and church

The church from a balcony of the library

Another monument to us pilgrims. 😀

St. James is the patron saint of Spain and pilgrimages and the moor slayer. I don’t think until this trip I realized how important this pilgrimage was to the development of Spain and the Christian’s efforts to expel the Muslims. This route is a major player in Spain’s history. Now it is a major financial element in the small towns across the north, with more than 600,000 people making this trek each year. 

A Kodak moment in the evening

May 28, 2023 - Day 28 - to Mansilla de las Mulas - 11.7 miles - +368’ - -627’

It was a wonderful rain last night!! Thunder. Lightning. And I slept thru most of it. 😩

We were up at 5:45am. I took a shower this morning, first time I have done that. We are mostly packed each morning from the night before, so it didn’t take long too be ready to go. We walked outside and over to the kitchen, hoping for a cup of tea, but we couldn’t find any cups. Some small juice glasses served the purpose, although it was hard to hold onto them they were so hot. We had a piece of bread with cheese for breakfast, plus some muesli. 

Back to the room to retrieve our packs and we were out the gate. That was a wonderful place to stay. Grassy yard with lounge chairs. Clean private room. 

The trail continued where it left off yesterday, tree lined the entire day. 11 miles of London Plane trees lining the route, providing afternoon shade. 

Sally and Becky walked together and I got out in front a little. I put in my earbuds and listened to “Iberia” by James Michener. It was good to learn the history of Spain, along with lessons in Spanish culture. 

The first town, Religios, was 8 miles out. We took a number of short breaks and were soon walking with the “Georgia Boys” (2 men in their early 70’s from Georgia) and Sue (52 yr old woman from Toronto). We stopped at the first cafe in town for sodas and a tortilla de patata. At this point we only had 3.5ish miles to go to Mansilla de las Mulas. Flat, straight and still tree lined. 

We stopped to pose for pictures at one of the pilgrim statues, mimicking the exhausted poses of the statues. 

We walked down the street looking for our hostel/hotel. The further down the street we went the seedier the town looked. At #12 the doors were locked. We inquired at a bar a door further down the street. No help. I went back to #12 and phoned. A woman picked up. A few moments of broken Spanglish between us was confusing until I said “Nosotros Aquí”. Right after that the door opened and a woman with cell phone to her ear beckoned me in from my position across the street. We walked through the empty restaurant to a bar, registered and she led us to our room on the 1st floor. 

Our trip in the front door and through the restaurant gave us a sneak preview of what our room was going to be like. The

Entrance way was in disarray with stuff piled in the corners. The restaurant, shuttered until later in the evening was tidy enough, but felt like walking thru a 1943 European themed movie set, all square tables with white table cloths and centered vases, lights off with just enough light thru the front windows to reveal the shapes of the tables and the path thru them. We followed her up stairs and two doors to the right to room 102. She let us in, handed us the key and disappeared. I don’t think she wanted to stay and hear our gasps of dismay. The room was as stark as can be imagined with three uncomfortable looking beds. The walls were dirty, the floor needed sweeping and the curtains were torn. We giggled to ourselves and repeated the mantra that gets us thru events such as these, “Well, we wanted an adventure!”

Becky pushed the drapes aside to reveal floor to ceiling windows looking out on the two lane Main Street through town and the bank with ATM across the narrow street. 

hmmmm . . .  Let’s go find dinner and a grocery store. Our attempt to avoid excessive time in this depressing room. 

Consulting mapping apps on our phones we found only one store selling groceries open, a gas station quickly store.  It is Sunday, and voting day for regional elections, making everything closed. But, It was open until 10:00. As an added bonus it was down near the bus station that we needed to visit to make a reconnaissance foray to for Sally’s planned bus trip tomorrow. We decided to find a restaurant for dinner first, before they closed for the afternoon, then to the grocery store and bus station. 

We found a restaurant only a block away and ducked inside just as the brooding thunderstorm overhead decided to mix falling water in with the lightning and thunder we had been watching and listening to for the last half hour. 

They offers a pilgrim’s meal, but would not let Sally and I share one. What we hoped would be a €12 meal became a €24. Cream of vegetable soup and salmon and fries with dessert. 

The sky was done with rain for the moment so we walked across this small town to the bus station. Of course it was closed so we could not even ask questions. However, a bus was at the station and the driver was collecting fares. Sally went over to ask him questions, standing behind two elderly women waiting to board. This is when we met the town drunk.

A man in his 40’s (I’m guessing here, he could have been anywhere between 30 ans 65) was screaming loudly in the door of the bus and hassling the poor bus driver. The two ladies moved away from the bus to avoid him. Eventually he stood back from the bus, yelling at it or someone inside, somewhat taunting both. 

We did meet a pilgrim we knew who was also riding tomorrow morning and we found a schedule that confirmed what we had seen on the web, so we were satisfied we knew how to catch the bus in the morning. 

We walked down to the grocery. Little did we realize the inebriated dude was headed that way too, arriving just after we did. We were inside selecting what we would eat tomorrow for breakfast and lunch when we saw the owner outside the window yelling at someone and waving him away from the door. The drunken man wanted in to by booze but the owner obviously knew of him and refused to sell him anything. This went on for a few minutes. Frustrated, the drunk turned around and dropped his pants, mooning the store owner, then walked away. Soon the owner was back inside ringing up our items as if nothing unusual had happened. An everyday occurrence?

We walked back to our room on the opposite side of the street from our stellar citizen and spent the rest of the evening relaxing, packing, reading and writing. The Internet worked in the closed restaurant, but didn’t reach to our room. I spent some time on the cluttered outside 2nd floor deck where I could get signal uploading this blog and hoping the thunderstorm would let loose while I was out there under cover, but other than a momentary sprinkler of rain there was no show. 

Sally and I slept in our sleeping bags rather than under those suspect sheets. Becky slept in the sheets and even took a blanket from the cupboard for added warmth. Brave person. 

Stork nest are on nearly every church steeple and bell tower


The path is lined with trees for tens of miles



It is hard to believe corn can germinate in this rocky ground



Instructions for human waste disposal 


Me, Sally, Sue (Canada), Jeff(Georgia) Becky, and Doug(Georgia). The Georgia Boys


Wide sidewalks on bridges



Another photo of the tree lined path



Exhausted pilgrims, both stone and human

Less than stellar accommodations in Mansilla de Las Mulas

May 27, 2023 - Day 27 - to El Burgo Ranero - 10.7 miles - +647’ - -450’

Finally!  A change in the weather. Yes it was a little chilly upon leaving our apartment in Sahagún, but the skies were clear and there was no wind. 

We didn’t make it an early start, but we didn’t have a long day either. We stopped to shoot a photo at a pilgrim staff and rock, then across the old stone bridge and out of town. 

It is 6 and a half miles to the first town, a fact roundly disappointing to everyone we know and met. The guides show a town at less than three, but the route splits today and that town is on the route we weren’t taking. 

We hiked up to a freeway interchange. This is where the route splits. The northern route goes up and over the freeway on an overpass. The southern route parallels the freeway for another 3 or 4 miles before crossing under it. We were on the southern route. 

We finally came into Bercianos del Real Camino. The restaurant we sat at last time no longer had red chairs. We could see a few fellow pilgrims seated in red chairs up the street. We joined them. 

Here we met Jean from Belgium, a bike rider. He was going to stop at an airport just a few miles up the road. He had chartered a plane he was going to fly to get a look around the countryside. 

After our 20 minute rest we moved on. 

From this point on the path is lined with trees on one side. I thought they were sycamore trees, but they identified as London Plain trees, a hybrid sycamore. They shade the trail beautifully. I checked photos from last time we were here because i remember these trees, but wow, had they grown a lot in just four years. 

The weather was now beginning to turn nasty. Large thunderheads were beginning to build. It looked like we had plenty of time before they cranked open and dumped on us. Becky had been walking with us all day. She was suffering from shin splints on her left leg and decided to try slowing down to lessen the pain, but when Sally and I stopped 2 miles from town to make a lunch of tuna and cheese sandwiches she continued on to town ahead of us. We arrived about an hour after her. We were sure we had three bunks in a common room, but turned out we had a private room with three beds. I had called to reserve this one. The woman on the phone spoke no English and with my broken Spanish I had hoped we had a private room, but wasn’t sure. This was a pleasant surprise. 

We spent the rest of the afternoon washing clothes, making reservations for the remainder of our nights to Santiago and blogging. We made reservations for dinner at 7 at one of the two restaurants in town. 

The dinner was amazing. Two courses, wine, water, bread and dessert-standard pilgrim meal, but it was the best meal we have had. Sally and Becky had ham and melon for their first course, I had seafood Paella. We all had salmon and salad for the second course with ice cream bars for dessert. 

Sally is so at home on the Camino. Everyday there is many new people to meet. At dinner tonight she was sharing her bottle of wine with the other tables because she had a whole bottle to herself because I don’t drink and Becky doesn’t drink wine. She invites Patricia from France to eat dessert with us. She went and got her and her plate and moved her over with us at our table. Sally couldn’t tolerate Patricia eating by herself. After the meal she introduced herself to two gentlemen outside. One was an author of a book on the Camino. We scurried back to our room about 8:45, just before the thunder ripped the skies open and the rain fell in torrents. I was I in bed asleep when it started and it woke me up. Couldn’t believe how hard it rained. Another amazing day!!

May 26, 2023 - Day 26 - to Sahagún - 13.7 miles - +728’ - -848’

Cold and very windy morning. I started out with rain coat on due to the forecast. Had my fleece on underneath but it wasn’t enough to keep me warm. After a mile or so Sally shed her light puffy and I put it on under my raincoat. Finally, warm. 

The way paralleled the highway only 10 feet away, but about 4 or 5 feet lower. This helped minimize the wind as it roared over the top. 

Our first town was Ledigos at about 4.5 miles. Here we found a cafe and Pierre from Montreal. He sat with us inside and entertained us with his stories and infectious laugh. We stayed long enough for Sally to down a soda and use the restroom, and we were off to the next town a few miles further up the way. We didn’t stop here even though it was 11:30am by now. The next town was two miles away. We vowed to have lunch there. Tom and Nicki caught up with us and we had lunch together, our “last supper”. They were going to take a rest day in Sahagún. We would now get a day ahead of them. 

This is how it goes on the Camino. We really enjoyed Melissa’s company, but she was now two days ahead of us and now Tom would be a day behind. Time to meet new people. 

After lunch Tom and I walked together and Nicki and Sally followed behind. Tom and I discussed Jeff house framing and how to handle contract disputes and mistakes made on the building. Tom’s position as a professional court witness for building disputes makes him the perfect guy to talk to, plus, he just plain a great guy. 

We stopped at the official halfway to Santiago site just before entering Sahagún to take pictures and congratulate each other on a job half done. Then it was I to town and an outside cafe for sodas and beer. A final farewell and Sally and I searched out our apartment. Becky was already there and heard us yammering as we walked down the street. She looked down from the first floor balcony and waved us up. (Remember, in Spain the first floor is what we call the second floor)

Sally and I rested in our room for a while, then went to get our half done certificate at the Perigrino Museum and to buy some food at the local grocery. We emailed Soma to see if she wanted to have dinner with us. See said yes. 

The main town square was just 50 yards away. We tried to eat at on open cafe but were told “no cochina!”  We walked a little farther and found a place to eat, but they didn’t serve food until 7:00pm. It was 6:35pm. We sat on the restaurant watching the locals gab and drink. At about 7:10 the proprietor took our orders and we were eating 20 minutes later. I had Paella, Sally fettuccine. Becky had ? (Can’t remember). 

It was after 8:00pm by the time we left and headed back to our apartment. Another day we’ll spent. 

The away is a dirt road lined with Scotch Broom. It did a good job of blocking the wind. 

Bundled up in Spain in late May. 51° and a 20mph wind

Sunflowers getting a start on life

Me, Tom, Lori, Nicki and Sally at our final supper


The bridge just before the halfway marker 

Sally and I celebrate being halfway there

All of us mark the halfway monument. Lori, Sue, Sally, me, Tom and Nicki

May 25, 2023 - Day 25 - to Calzadilla de la Cueza - 10.6 miles - +534’ - -446’

Not a big day today, but no towns along the way. 10.6 miles to the nearest pastry and drink. Because of this, we loaded up at the grocery last night. Also, the town of Calzadilla de la Cueza is very small, meaning little chance of a grocery store. However, when we hiked this section in 2019 an enterprising capitalist had a trail side coffee/food stand set up that pilgrims flocked to like bears to a honey pot. 

We were up and out later than usual, about 7:10. The walk through town is pleasant. We forget that this town is one of the bigger ones. We crossed the bridge that marks the end of town and we were walking alongside a highway for a couple miles. Finally the route just a gravel road all the way to Calzadilla. And sure enough, at mile 5 there was a coffee stand, although much upgraded from our experience of four years ago. They had moved two overseas metal shipping containers into the spot and altered them so that the long side opened up vertically, like the hatchback on a van. One was a food prep area, one had tables and chairs. They were a welcome site, not so much for the food they promised, but they blocked the cold wind that was howling across the landscape like a cheetah chasing a rabbit. To our good fortune it was blowing mostly from behind us, but it was cold. Most everyone still had their piggies on upon arrival. (Temp was 44 when we left Carrion de Los Condos-it was now 48, with a 20 mph wind gusting to 35 mph)

I had been walking with Tom from Australia. I ducked into the shipping container to escape the wind. Sally and Nicki were a minute or two behind. We stayed 15-20 minutes, me with my hot chocolate, Sally with her tea. 

The rest of the way was absolutely flat on a gravel road with fields of grains to the horizon. Big sky country. The wind continued to howl, helping to push us along. 

Our albergue was the first building in town on the right. Becky had been there for at least half an hour and had spent it standing in line to get registered. When I walk into the 10’x15’ room that served as a small sparsely stock store and registration room Becky was being helped.  I was able to hand the receptionist my passport immediately and go up the stair where another woman was showing people to their room. Our room was just big enough to accommodate four single beds with enough room to walk between them. 

I washed my shirt, socks and underwear in the sink in the back patio area and hung them to dry on the provided clothesline with the provided clothes pins. 

Tom, Nicki, Tom the Chicago Cop and a few others had been downing beers and swapping stories in front of our albergue, but they had run out of tap beer. They moved to the only other food establishment in town a couple 100 yards away. With my chores done, I wandered down to enjoy their company and had a Coke. 

While sitting there, Jane walk up with a noticeable limp. She is a beautiful blond in her mid 50’s. Tom massaged the sore area while I quickly watch spa YouTube video on how to tape for shin splints. Another women at the table walked up to her room and got two pieces of KT tape and I taped her shins. We were like a Indy 500 pit crew getting our car back on the road. She was blown away by the help she received and was soon on her way to the next town, Ledigoes. 

I returned to my room. Sally had not felt well all day. She had crawled into bed when we got to town and slept the whole afternoon. She still did not feel very well. I wrote a couple post cards to the grands. We did not have a kitchen and eating out did not sound good. They do have cup of noodles in the sparse store for €3 each. That and a yogurt served as dinner. The woman running the albergue happily heated water to dump in our cup of noodles for our dinner. 

With dinner done it was back up to bed. Some writing and then sleep. 

The bridge leaving Carrion de Los Condos



What our route looked like all day

Coming into town

Didn’t take many photos today. 

May 24, 2023 - Day 24 - to Carrion de Los Condos - 12.4 miles - +736’ - -576’

Since the miles today are on the shorter side and we have a kitchen and we could only buy eggs by the dozen instead of the half dozen, we decided to leave at 7:00 am and to scrambled eggs for breakfast. Good decision. Everyone in our room, save one was up and getting ready to go. They did a great job of being super quiet. I had slept in my clothes (not an abnormal

occurance although sometimes I slept in my gym shorts) and during the night the loose change in my pockets had spilled out onto the mattress. As I began to gather myself and stuff to descend from the top bunk I brushed one of those coins from the bed. It hit the wooden floor, producing a report like a gun shot. Oops. I felt around on the top of the mattress and collected the rest of the coins before they too hurtled to the ground. 

With breakfast finished, Sally’s bag ready for transport and Becky enjoying her first of two cups of coffee we headed out the door. We joined the conga line of pilgrims heading west. 

In our 12 miles today we pass through 4 towns before reaching the fifth, Carrion de Los Condos. We walked around two traffic circles on our route and found Christine and Carol, our Australian couple as we walked. I chatted with Christine. Our pace was a bit quicker than Sally and Carol’s and we were soon in the first town at about two and a half miles. We sat on a park bench to wait. The town had mounted bicycle pedals in front of the benches to encourage sitting people to exercise, so I mindlessly pedaled as we waited. When Caroland Sally came into view we continued I to town, found an open cafe and had a Coke (Sally) and a banana (me). 

Christine and Carol left a little before we did. The route now followed the main highway for the rest of the distance to Carrion de Los Condos. A path the width of a one lane gravel road sits right next to the highway. With but 4 miles to go we stopped in the last small village before our destination and ate an early lunch at a cafe. Sally had a hankering for a hamburger, so we split one. Then we toured the church for a euro and then walked the rest of the way, me out in front a bit, setting a little quicker pace. I waited in the town entrance for 10 minutes for Becky and Sally to catch up, they deep in conversation. 

We found our hotel and checked in. Three twin beds in a room the size of six twin beds. Nice. We headed out to see the town, but it was 2:30pm in Spain. Everything was closed. Sally and Becky continued on in search of a beer, I went back to the room for a proper siesta. 

When I woke about 5 I searched for a grocery store. Google maps pinpointed one. I walked there, but it was a distribution facility, not retail. Francisco had been lead astray at the same time. He asked a local and soon we were on track the the correct location, the same place Sally had called me from just moments earlier. We found her and Becky in the store, buying scissor salad for dinner, along with a quarter of a watermelon for desert. 

We ate in our room, except for the melon. For

That we walked across the street to the city plaza and ate it on a park bench, afraid of the sticky mess it would create I the room.

Sally and I cuddled on one of the two beds and watched season three, episode 11 of Ted Lasso-excellent!

And with that, the day closed and we slept. 

Can’t get enough of the poppies

The pilgrim statues continue

Carrión del Los Condos in the distance 



Route markers in the streets of Carrion de Los Condos

With feet