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DISTANCE: 107.7 k/66.9 mi; TIME: 5h 27m; AV: 19.7 kph/12.2 mph; ODO: 1848.2 k
I was up at 6:30 am and packed my gear. I had to wait for the Señora to open the garage, so that I could get my bike out. I left for Sahagún just after 8 am. The route seemed quite easy and with the wind behind it was quite fast too. I arrived in Sahagún at 10:30 and commandeered the first phone I saw. This time I was successful in getting through to Jenny. I then found a bar and had a bocadillo and a zumo naranja.PHOTOS:I continued on towards León. On the way into Mansilla de las Mulas I passed the “Restaurante El Hórreo” where Jenny and I had lunch last year. In the town I bought fresh bread and cheese. I had lunch at a small restaurant on the West side of the town.
I carried on into León to the cathedral and looked around inside. The amount of stained glass and the size of the windows, with slim mullions, is very impressive. I walked the bike in the old town and down to the Plaza Santa María del Camino to check into the refugio, which is in the Convento de las Madres Benedictinas. The nuns of this order run the refuge with the help of lay administrators. An inmate, sitting outside, kindly rang the bell for me. A very pleasant, English speaking, administrator checked me in, stamped my Pilgrim’s Record and showed me where things were.
After a shower and change of clothes I went out to look for dinner. There was nothing open at 8 pm. I spoke to a Pilgrim who obviously recognised me from the refuge. She was doing the same thing and wanted to know if I had seen anywhere suitable. She was having a drink in a bar, so I joined her and ordered a zumo naranja. I learned that her name was Sol, she was born in Spain but raised in Canada. She had been told that the pilgrim restaurants opened at 8:30 and that we needed to be back by 9:30! My guide said 10:00 pm. Just after 8:30 we chose one of the restaurants that had opened. I had Ensalada Mixta, Conga and Clams, and a “gateaux” style of desert. We got back to the refuge in time, but it was a pity we had to rush the meal.
As I was preparing to go to bed, when who should turn up but Juan!. He had done 174 k in a day; “Demasiado” (“Too much”), he said.
Gateway to what was once the most powerful monastery in Spain
León Cathedral - South Side
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