Leon and stained glass
Trip Start
May 29, 2005
1
6
9
Trip End
Jul 29, 2005
Leon,
Spain
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Day 28 - we walked 16km from Sahagun to Calzadilla de los Hermanillos. Ít was a lovely walk - we took the Via Trajana - which followed an old Roman road as opposed to the Real Camino Frances as that followed the main road and we fancied getting away from the traffic. We had a lovely cool day of walking with a fresh breeze cooling us off as we walked along. The terrain was very stony and hard on the feet but the scenery was beautiful - lots of wildflowers, trees, cornfields and our first glimpse of the mountain range we will be facing in four days time. We also seemed to be the only people going that way, didn´t see another soul and were the first to get to the albergue. None of us had really broken a sweat and felt we could have done a few km more but it was nice not to have to. We had a nice lunch and slept, got up in the late afternoon, mooched around and then went to bed.
Day 29 - we walked from Calzadilla de los Hermanillos to Mansilla de las Mulas. It was supposed to be 22km but it felt a lot longer and the guy at the albergue said it was 27km. We can well believe it! This stretch of the road was described in the guide "no shade, no water, no food, no nothing. Be prepared." They weren´t kidding! On every other day, we had passed villages with fountains and bars - this day - nothing! We started the day well. We were up at 5.30am - the first ones up. We packed, breakfasted and were on the road before 7.00am. As usual, once we started walking we spaced out naturally, with Linda leading, Angela second and Suki trailing in the vanguard. It was very windy and we could well imagine that it would be hellishly cold in winter. Linda and Suki were traumatised by the lack of morning coffee and no prospect of any coffee whatsoever until journey´s end. The walk itself was on a very stony path which was hard on the feet and went on and on and on. We were supposed to be experiencing the pleasure of a genuine medieval pilgrim experience - fording a knee-high to thigh-high river - but this was denied us by the enthusiasm of route improvers who had built a new bridge across the river and had put down gravel. Once we came level with a village called Reliegos we were only supposed to have a furthe 6km to go before hitting Mansilla de las Mulas. It was the longest 6km ever. We could see Mansilla in the distance but as we walked the city seemed to recede from us. Moreover, the signposting was practically nonexistent and we all experienced the same doubts as we walked (we are all quite far apart by now). We had doubts about whether we had inadvertently passed Mansilla as we seemed to be going further than 6km. We could see no road signs saying Mansilla once the stony path joined the main road - only signs saying Leon. We all wondered if we had overshot Mansilla and all decided that if that was the case we would either stay put and call the others or move on to Leon by bus/taxi. By the end of the walk, Linda and Angela were so tired that they were swaying and staggering into Mansilla. Suki kept going knowing that if she stopped she would not move again; she had no water left by the time she had Mansilla in sight but as that damned city kept moving away, this meant a long drag with NO WATER! She actually walked on the wrong side of the river and panicked when she realised she might have to double back. Luckily, there was a second crossing point to the river followed by a scary run across a busy state highway. By the time she got there and saw a bar, her only thoughts were of water and the lift of spirits caused by the barman handing her a bottle of water and a few chicken nuggets is indescribable. Merely the possession of water was sufficient to impell her forward once more and she came upon Linda and Angela sat in a leafy green square eating chocolate and biscuits and swigging coke.
Day 30 - Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon is 18.5km. Today we had a lie-in - we got up at 7.00am, packed at leisure and were almost the last people to leave the hostel. The we ate a breakfast of coffee and rich pastries and went to the bus station to get the bus (shshsh! Don´t tell anyone!) We were in Leon by 9.45am and have checked into a hotel for two days. We have had lunch, seen the cathedral and booked ourselves in for massages later in the afternoon.
