El Camino de Santiago : Carrión de los Condes to León

Kilometres this section : 96

Kilometres completed : 468

The trail continues to be flat and unimpeded.

Another good thing about staying in a hotel, no need to leave at the crack of dawn - now the clocks have gone back, sunrise isn't until 8am or so, being thrown out of an albergue that early inevitably means walking in the cold for a while.  Whereas today I roll out of town at around 10, under a lovely blue sky, it is going to be a warm day.  To the north I can see a range of mountains, plenty of snow up there, but to he trail isn't going that way, indeed it is completely flat, heading more or less straight west towards Santiago.  More fields, more small towns, each one has places to stay, you really could do 10km or less most days if you wanted.  One such town is my endpoint today, Terradillos de los Templarios, wow this is not a big place.  I wander a bit, what little there are in the way of buildings seem deserted, or indeed uninhabited, but there is an exception, the albergue, there's only one and it is busy.  Seems to be a younger, louder crowd of pilgrims tonight, compared to the usual quiet, elderly types, well why not.  Dinner tonight features pumpkin soup...

Decaying mud brick buildings in Bercianos del Real Camino.

Another early start, more blue skies and flat, easy trail.  I think I am about half way through the trip, no reason for there to be any sort of sign though.  In fact, Saint Jean Pied de Port is just one of the more popular places to start, there are quite a few different routes and of course you can start from your house, wherever it is.  This doesn't stop the next town I pass through, Sahagún, having a big 'halfway point of the Camino' sign.. pretty sure I am rather more than halfway though.  Interesting place anyway, much of it the massive ruins of yet another monastery.  A little further, to today's finish, Bercianos del Real Camino, not much of a place and once again, kind of deserted and decaying.  Here, rather than stone, the delapidated buildings are made of actual mud brick.  Well, there's a large, modern albergue that supplies all my needs, think they even give me free beer, can't complain.

Holy Week parade in Mansilla de las Mulas.

An early start from Bercianos - though not as early as my three roommates from the albergue, who were up at 6am, two hours before dawn!  The sun's up when I leave, but there's frost on the ground, it stays cold until midday or so.  Not a very exciting walk today, the trail running alongside a road all day.  There are mountains ahead now, as well as to the north, I expect I'll have to climb at some point, but I doubt it will be too bad.  An interesting destination today though, a well preserved walled town, Mansilla de las Mulas.  There are of course many historic buildings, after checking into an albergue I spend some time sightseeing, but then struggle to find a restaurant - there are bars, but they only have tapas, well it is good, various tasty things, one with each of my beers.  Then a commotion outside, it is holy week so we have a procession, wow, very interesting.  Near the front, a statue of the virgin Mary, usually behind the altar at one of the churches I guess.  At the back is a priest, but surrounding all this are a band and more people marching, and all of them wearing robes and a high, pointed, face obscuring hood.  A thing to see for sure.  I then get my bill, seems the tapas was free as long as I kept drinking.  Why have I been paying for food exactly?

León Cathedral.

Another day, more easy walking, and again a little dull, along a major road towards León, this is a big city of course, so much of the morning involves commercial zones and suburbs.  And by midday I am in the city, totally worth spending an afternoon sightseeing, this place has been here a while - the largely intact medieval walls following the plan of the original Roman 'playing card' fort built over two thousand years ago, and of course there is a cathedral, and various other historic sites to visit.  Santa Semana is clearly a big thing here, I see various floats ready to be pushed around, and some of the participants already wearing their robes, no hoods yet though.  Again I struggle to find proper food,  well, a few beers and various tapas will do.  Although, asking the barman to recommend something was a bad idea, I am happy to immerse myself in the culture, but I still don't want to eat tripe.

¡Ay, un león!