Mansilla de las Mulas to León – 19.2km, 4.25 hours, Le Petit León, 52€

Today, with so many options for stopping for our various breakfasts, we decided to have everything ready for a slightly earlier start. I still want to see stars and most mornings have been very cloudy or rainy. The few clear mornings, we have gotten out the door too late. Today, we were out the door at at 6:45am… right into a steady shower. Our room didn’t have a window we could see out of so we were surprised. That’s life.

Walking in complete darkness in a rain that varies often from a light drizzle to a steady pour isn’t as much fun as you think. It’s also not as fast as I like as we shared one torch to light the way for both of us. Melanie was walking with her poncho and was quite comfortable. She tolerates the heat buildup in plastic better than I can. I was walking with the umbrella and mostly dry but feeling pretty cold in the wet 55ºF / 13ºC temperature. I know that’s a summer day in the UK but I’m from Singapore. Several times we walked along the road that was adjacent to the trail because of flooding.

Our breakfast #1 was scheduled for Villamoros, only 5km from where we began. We followed the signs to the bar which was off the Camino. Sadly, it was still closed at 8am and we walked a extra few hundred meters to find that out. Fortunately, only another 1.5km took us to Puente de Villarente where there were many options for sustenance including the first bar, right on the Camino. We were happy. Not only did we get fed but the rain was over for the rest of the walk despite some threatening clouds.

On the trail again, without the need for the umbrella and with a croissant and juice in my belly, I decided to try to brighten up the day of an old man who was walking towards us on the trail. He looked grouchy and fairly miserable. I was working up the energy to put on my happiest face, tell him it was a beautiful day and wish him an enthusiastic wonderful Sunday. The bugger beat me to it though! Just as I opened my mouth, his whole face lit up and he said it was a wonderful day. He stopped to talk to us for a few minutes, giving us the weather report, asking where we were planning to stop, and asking where we were from. When I said I was from the US but lived in Singapore, the conversation briefly changed to English when he very slowly but very clearly said “I speak no English”. He cracked me up and brightened my day.

Breakfast #2 was at a little bar 100m off the Camino in Arcahueja. The barman in this tiny bar looked so happy to get a customer. He may get people going off trail at lunchtime but not at 9:30am on a Sunday. Melanie and I shared just a sandwich and a soda but the bartender became Melanie’s friend when she used her fingernails to help him start a roll of packing tape. He had previously been struggling with it for several minutes.

Just as we were leaving Arcahueja, we saw a man coming out of his yard to walk two feisty little dogs. One dog laughed at him and refused to approach him to get leashed. While the owner tried to coax him out, the other dog bolted trailing his leash. We yelled to some pilgrims down the road who corralled the dog back towards his owner but while the owner retrieved that dog, the first one ran out of the yard unnoticed. Melanie and I found him further down the road and my wife, the dog whisperer managed to grab his collar and hold him. I carried him back to the owner but also discovered that during his brief moments of freedom, the dog had run through every puddle, mud pit, and batch of wet grass that he could find. Oh boy.

As we arrived in central León just before noon, we heard the church bells announcing our arrival (it happens often; we are used to it). Coincidently, and completely unrelated to the bells announcing our arrival, noon mass was about to start but we decided to head to the hotel where we were staying. After finding out that the hotel only opened at 1pm, we went over to the cathedral square and found a place for a light lunch. Even that didn’t last until 1pm so we walked into the cathedral to have a look. It was apparent that they were getting ready for mass so we stayed there and completed our Sunday obligation.

Finally, Melanie just sent a message to our friend Maja (formerly spelled as Mia) who we last saw in Burgos. Maja said she was in León so we are now meeting up for dinner. We will have to be careful talking about Felix as I am not sure if they are still in communication or what the situation is. They used to be sort of an item, I think. We really shouldn’t say anything about the French girl we met who Felix befriended without knowing how to pronounce her name. Bastine, as we later learned was her name (but probably misspelled) is likely unknown to Maja. Young love is so full of drama.

Peace y’all. Goodnight George and Leo. Don’t let the bedbugs bite even if they are Oriole fans. Let’s go O’s!!