Today was brutal. I can’t think of a better word for it. We still have big tests to come in the mountains of Galicia, as well as a couple more days closer to earth but I reckon that we have already earned a good portion of the Compostela.

Today started out not as cold as I expected.  When it’s barely cool an hour before sunrise and no clouds visible in the early dawn, I know we are in trouble. It only reached 30ºC/86ºF but the lack of shade on several sections sapped the energy right out of our bodies. Whenever we were in the shade, it felt like it was at least 10ºC/ 18ºF cooler. There just was not enough shade, particularly when we were walking the last five kilometers. 

The start was fine out of Mansilla de las Mulas walking through the town saved the batteries on our torch but we could not see any cafe open. Breakfast #1 was going to be delayed. After crossing the Río Esla on the far side of town, the torched showed us we were now walking on a very similar path to the prior day and a half but with one major difference. Yesterday, I think we saw about a dozen cars on the road next to us.  Today, there were a dozen cars every minute speeding by for an early morning commute.  Didn’t these folk just go to bed at midnight (shortly after dessert)??  It definitely wasn’t a quiet walk in the dark or in the growing light of dawn. It was loud.

We decided to walk a bit off the Camino into Villamoros de Mansilla (the former Moorish village 5km from Mansilla) to get breakfast #1 and a toilet for a different #1. Sadly, for I think the third time in three Caminos, that bar was closed.  So was the next one back on the trail. And the one at 6km where we had eaten twice before. Finally we found a place in Puente de Villarente (Bridge of the village named Rent???). Sadly, my croissant wasn’t just overly dried out, it was huge too. That’s a bad combination but at least all our #1s were taken care of.  We sat and chatted with Larry from Bangkok, via California, who walks pretty fast for a guy wearing an external contraption holding his knee together and giving it some extra strength.  By the way, if you know any five year boys who are bi-lingual in Spanish and English, this town offers the perfect quiz question for them. Ask them “How much rent does this village collect?”  The correct answer is “Puente”. Bi-lingual dad jokes are the best. 

Now fortified, we worked on getting to León Cathedral about 11km further along, sometimes on the main road and sometimes on dirt tracks a few hundred meters from that road. We never seemed to be far from stores and businesses of every kind.  The last 3km were through León’s different neighborhoods and finally into the old walled city. We were definitely dragging by the time we reached the Cathedral to get our Credenciales stamped.  We had toured the Cathdral two years ago and were not up to it again so we looked for a place to get a light lunch. We were still in the tourist area and paid 20€ for a simple mixed salad, some carbonated water and a single beer with lemon mixture (trust me, it’s the most refreshing drink in the world). 

After lunch it was hard to get moving again.  My ankle was asking “hey idiot, why aren’t you staying here?”  I started to question myself too.   Unfortunately, our bags were already delivered to our pre-paid hotel, 6km away in a suburb.  That 6km though was probably the hardest 6km I’ve ever walked. That may be an exaggeration but not one I make on purpose. I just realize that my memory forgets the unpleasant parts of our travels.  For the first kilometer, we were able to walk in some shade but after that, it was all sun with the last 2km walking straight into the sun.  I was now thinking those pilgrims we saw who were sitting at bus stops on the outskirts before León had at least a partially good idea.  The walk into León was pretty and had a decent amount of shade. The walk out is anything but pretty and has little shade. Does anyone know where to catch the bus from León to La Virgin del Camino???

That’s enough complaining about the walk today. I’ll move on now and put that all behind me. Now I’ll complain about pillows in Spain.  Melanie and I are resting on the bed right now.  I’m writing the blog and she is catching up with friends on WhatsApp and also studying Chinese. The thing we are both doing as well is trying to take possession of the single, five foot long pillow that we are supposed to share tonight. We are used to have two pillows each.  This shared pillow thing is too much for me.  Dear God, please tell the Spanish that I’ll never again complain about closing the country down from 2-5pm for a siesta or only serving dinner at restaurants after 8:30pm if you only convince them that two shorter pillows per person is the minimum acceptable pillow inventory in a hotel room. Amen. 

 Peace y’all. Goodnight George, Leo and Stella. We love you all.

p.s. God, one more thing… Could you mention to the hotel people here that if they put the bathrooms in a closet, there is no need for a bidet un, of course, I am mistaken and that isn’t a bidet and is designed for soaking the feet while pooping.