Day 31

León to La Virgen del Camino - 8 kms
11 May 2019

After our day off in León yesterday we gave ourselves a very short day today - no need to rush things. The whole of our short walk was through the outer suburbs of León which merged with La Virgen Del Camino; it was a steady uphill walk from León and not far from La Virgen del Camino we came across a friendly man and his stall, he even offered toilet facilities in the warehouse behind him - so important to pilgrims as public toilets are very rare on the camino. All his food and drink was donativo - we had orange juice and bananas.
Who should we meet in a cafe soon after we arrived in Virgen del Camino but Norhern Ireland John - we said goodbye to him yesterday. John was just as surprised to see us as we were him. We had a good laugh - this time not saying goodbye as with the serendipitous way of the Camino we may just meet up again. 
It's a bright, fresh blue-sky day just perfect to have a lazy time exploring the local shops and streets of Virgen. We bought mini pizzas from the supermarket for lunch and sat in the park to eat them enjoying being in the sun. A beautiful pilgrim meal completed our day. The star of the meal were red peppers stuffed with veal and bacon.

Leaving León

Plaza San Marcos with the 12th century monastery dedicated to St Mark in the background

and its entrance 

Beautiful detail on the facade of the monastery 

Wisteria in front of the monastery.

...and a bronze statue of a medieval pilgrim resting his weary feet - we can relate to this.

Puente río Bernesga - a 16th stone bridge that pilgrims walk over when they leave León.

Between León and La Virgen del Camino was this gorgeous Forest Pansy tree - there were many lining the street.

Yet another cross along the way.

Pappy's house is squashed between bigger, uglier buildings. It might not be the prettiest place to live but it's not far to León, also Pappy will have his own grapes in a few months.

A wee church we popped into on our way.

We walked past several bodegas

This bodegas looks as though it is currently being used. It was beautiful.

The lovely man and his donativo stall

I liked the detail and colour of this house.

Jeff and John in a cafe at Virgen del Camino

The park where we had lunch. So many of the Spanish towns and villages that we have seen don't have green areas. Most houses don't have lawns.

320 kms from León to Santiago

We met a man from South Korea who asked me to take a photo of him with this pilgrim. He asked where we are from and then asked if we could sing Pokarekare Ana as it was one of his favourite songs.

There were a few very old bodegas in La Virgen del Camino

The crumbling remains of a wall that used to surround the bodegas.