Day 21 - Leon to Villar de Mazarife - 24 km

Breakfast at the Parador was phenomenal. I ate as much as possible since I was paying way too much money for it, but ham and cheese and fish are not things I'd usually eat for breakfast. Neither were the pies and cakes and other pastries, but I didn't care; I just ate. I took the bus to outside the industrial area of the city. There were couple of paths to chose from today. One was along the roadway but I took the alternative path which involves walking on dirt roads in the countryside and through a couple of very small villages. There was no shade and it was quite warm, but the day was made more interesting by the group of Canadians I met from New Brunswick. They had walked from St. Jean to Leon last year, are back now, and started out in Leon this morning.

I don't have a lot to say about today. It was just walking, chatting with the Canadians, finding an Albergue, showering, washing my clothes and hanging them to dry (the usual drill). I suppose you could almost say it was a bit boring, but I prefer to think of it as peaceful. Tomorrow's walk is 31 km according to the guidebook, but I can't imagine that my body will be ok with that. After about 25 km it will be saying, "you're not serious!".

There are a lot more English people now. There were many who skipped the Meseta and are starting again at Leon. The church here in Mararife has a very old bell tower which chimes every half hour. Notice the stork nests at the top. I'm curious about those holes and wonder if it was used as a place of defense.

Dinner was served here at the Albergue and for dessert we had a Camino 'shell' crepe.