Day 21, Mansilla de Mulas to Leon
On the outskirts of Leon on a rainy day. You can see the trail disappearing over the hill, top right.
June 24
A rainy day. It's not so bad - the third rainy day out of 21 - and the forecast is for hot sunny days coming after (when the rain stops about 10am tomorrow).
I loved last night's hotel. There were only two pilgrims in residence at the four-room hotel and the other was planning on taking the bus, so I wandered downstairs at about 7.45am to have the entire dining room to myself.
You never know what you're going to get at breakfast. Sometimes it's lavish and all laid out - sometimes you just sit and wait to be served, never knowing what's to come. It was like that this morning. I sat down, fresh orange juice appeared and I was asked if I wanted coffee or tea (cafe con leche is my thing in the absence of a flat white). Soon after I heard eggs frying and two arrived, along with two thick white slices of toast and some butter.
I find my appetite is never up to the challenge of the lavish, multi-course breakfasts, so I was happy with that. Went upstairs, cleaned my teeth, delivered my suitcase and hit the road.
It was a fairly sombre procession out of town - everyone wrapped up against the rain. I was happy enough, the cooler weather meant it was ok to have multiple layers of clothing and I had a new audio book. The trail was mostly sendo (fine sandy gravel) even though it was close to roads a lot of the time.
I wandered along, happy enough. My various ailments are all in abeyance and I wasn't pushing the pace. After 18km, I arrived at my hotel after 4hr 21min. I hadn't stopped at all. When you're wet, it's not much fun to stop and let the dampness envelope you.
After a brief drying and change of clothes, I went out in search of food and stimulation. I'm not happy with my fancy hotel on the outskirts. I had to walk a kilometre to the old part of town, where there are loads of hotels and bars. Seems it's another (religious) public holiday, so loads of people wandering round. Had some tapas and a beer, then went back to my hotel.
The internet is crap - seems to be better in the small towns. The signal is really weak, so It's taking a long time to load photos.
In the meantime, I'll publish this and go and have a shower. Will add photo album later.
Much later - photos still haven't loaded. Here's the link (more photos will appear, given time)
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