We left Reliegos with Js and it started to rain. The walk to León would be a wet one.
We stopped in Mansillas de las Mulas for some chocolate Napoleons and orange juice. I liked the orange juice in Spain and I drank gallons of it I think. Nearly every bar/cafe had these machines where oranges were fed into the top and orange juice came out of the bottom. You couldn't ask for fresher orange juice. All the orange juice probably kept me from catching a cold despite being soaked through to the skin several times over.
The Mancillas de las Mulas city walls. |
By the time we reached León we were all pretty pooped. We staggered into the Cathedral square and found the tourism office. Js asked about albergues. We asked about cheap motels. We were given a map and found a reasonably priced place not too far from the Cathedral area. We said our goodbyes to Js and parted ways. I'd hoped we would catch up with her somewhere but we never did.
Elvis is still famous in León ... and selling purses. |
Day 26 - A day of rest in León
I slept in this morning and it felt good. I had a couple things to do today ... both foot related.
We went out and found some breakfast and walked through a street market that was going on in front of the Cathedral.
We went into the Cathedral and were surprised that you had to pay to get in now. It wasn't much and it was understandable with the cost to maintain and restore the cathedral in these hard economic times. I really like the Cathedral in León. The stained glass is magnificent. I walked around half listening to the electronic tour guide, taking pictures, and taking a video.
We left the cathedral and went out looking for sporting good stores. I was looking for liner socks. Some people swear that to prevent blisters you need to wear two pairs of socks. First a pair of thin, tight fitting, nylon socks that wick the sweat away, Second a thick, Merino wool sock. The idea is that all the friction that causes blisters will occur between the liner sock and the outer wool sock. Unfortunately after visiting three places I could not find any liner socks in my size.
Beautiful stained glass. |
Is that Batman in the upper left?!? Who is picking his nose? |
The Cathedral at dusk all lit up. |
I repacked my bag that night trying to organize it better - the last twenty-five days had turned it into a chaotic mess. My bag was not very good in the rain. The pack I had last time stayed dry inside even in the rain. My new pack ... not so much. If my clothes hadn't been in a dry sack there really would have been a problem. It was disappointing to take off you pack rain cover to find a damp pack. One of the magnets I bought, made of cardboard, was wet and starting to separate. I ended up moving more stuff inside the dry sack.
That night I had some trouble getting to sleep. I was dreading tomorrow - It would not be easy to restart. It would be new though since last time I'd skipped the next two days on a bus. I finally was lulled to sleep by the sound of thunder and hard rain.
Pictures can be found in my 2013 Camino de Santiago Google Photos album.
Total Distance on Day 25: 27 km ( 16.78 Miles) Total Distance Walked: 586 km (364.12 Miles) |
Approximate Track of the day's hike.
[Click on map for a larger version]
|
No comments:
Post a Comment