Last night's hostel accommodation in Mansilla
Tonight's accommodation in Leon
Yes, after a week of sharing bedrooms, bathrooms, dining tables and all sorts of things, we decided we needed a treat. So, we have booked into a parador in Leon. A parador is a luxury hotel in an old building, usually a monastery or castle. We have seen them in parts of Spain and have always wanted to stay in one. We understand that the price we are paying is reasonable for a parador. In return we are getting great comfort for a day. This is a one off treat and it is back to our hostels from tomorrow.
Our walk this morning was short at 18km. It was really very flat with only a couple of inclines at the end. We seem to be nearing the end of the Meseta as we continue to see variety in the countryside, corn fields and dairy herds staring to appear.
Leon is a stunning city. There are lots of Camino pilgrims and other tourists but it remains very Spanish. There are lots of ancient, narrow streets, beautiful churches, and other old buildings. Near the center, are located a lot of bars doing tapas - we hope to drop into a few of these tonight. A highlight today for us was the Saturday food market in one of the squares.
We dropped into one of the big city center churches today and mass was on. When we walked last year, the Catholic church seemed to be closer to the pilgrims, of all denominations. Those pilgrims attended services on the way, as a more spiritual participation. That doesn't seem to have happened this year - perhaps it will be more evident when we leave the Meseta.
St Compeed, the patron saint of blisters has been called upon as our feet went downhill in the last few days. Kieran has three and Mary one. We had planned a 37km walk tomorrow but have scaled back to maybe 22 due to the blisters and other factors.
The meat and cheese end of the Leon food market.
No comments:
Post a Comment