Day 29

Mansilla de las Mulas to León - 20 kms
9 May 2019

After yesterday's strong winds there was no wind at all today - just high cloud cover and coolish temperatures, perfect for walking. We passed through or skirted around several villages and towns which broke the walk up nicely. We even had a long slope up then down to León, a welcome change from the straight flat walking of the last several days, and walking into León was far easier than the walk we had into Burgos. On the outskirts of León we were greeted by a man at a stall giving free maps and information to pilgrims as they arrived. He marked off the different nationalities - his list had four French groups/individuals, one Greek, one Chinese and two Australians. We were the first New Zealanders of the day - he added Nueva Zealanda to his list.
We were hoping to see Phil somewhere along the way today as he's staying just beyond León tonight then he's only going to walk another couple of days then return to the UK - he'll finish his Camino in September. Not seeing him today means that we couldn't say goodbye. Jeff has sent him an email.
We felt very excited as we walked into the city, it feels amazing to be here. Another reason for our excitment is that we're having two nights here - we haven't had a rest day since Pamplona.

Leaving Mansilla de las Mulas

Today was the first time that we've seen the concrete irrigation channels in use

At Villamoros de Mansilla

Pappy looking at his house for today.  I'm not sure that he likes all of his houses - so much work for him to get them all habitable but at least he won't run out of things to do.

The church at Villamoros de Mansilla.

The footbridge just before Puente Villarente

The road bridge was undergoing extensive repairs:

A brightly coloured house in Puente Villarente...

...and a cross outside the church.

On the path between Puente Villarente and the next village of Arcahueja

Arcahueja coming into view

A church near Valdelafuente

Approaching León. Although the path was alongside the road the walk in was far easier and less unpleasant than our walk into Burgos.

Walking into central León - stork city?

Part of the old city walls in León

Jeff enjoyed looking at the hunting and fishing things on display

And finally we walked into Plaza San Marcelo and saw Gaudi's beautiful Casa Botines, considered to be one his architectural masterpieces...

...and Gaudi himself who was busy working on his design.

This pilgrim and Gaudi barely noticed each other 

Part of the old city wall...

...home to this pigeon pair.

We had dinner at a nearby cafe where groups of locals were playing cards. There were two tables of women near us. They were very vocal about the game talking very loudly to each other - it sounded almost as though they were arguing but then they would smile and laugh. They noticed my interest and one of the women insisted I take a photo of her hand.