Camino – Day 21

I have now been walking the Camino for three weeks. In that time I have walked about 450km. It was a 26km/5 hour day, and my legs and feet are feeling a bit tired. Long stretches of open agricultural land, with only a few villages. The Camino ran next to a lightly used country road for most of the way. The sunrise was quite lovely. It is safe to say that is my favorite part of the day (not just today, but every day). Only a few perigrinos shared the path with me today, so it was a day to simply walk, putting one foot on front of the other, over and over again.

I stopped in the village of Reliegos for a bite of breakfast (tortilla de patatas – potatoes, onion, egg, and varying other ingredients – which only resembles the tortillas I am familiar with in that they are both round). As I was leaving the village I passed an older hombre, so asked (in Spanish) if I had seen his burro. I replied that I had not. At which point he continued up the calle in search of his burro and I walked on with a smile on my face. Such are the small and wonderful gifts of the Camino.

Finally my weary legs carried me to Puente Villarente, where I found refuge for the night at Albergue San Pelayo. This appears to be a suburb of Leon, which is located about 12km to the west. It is not a big city, but larger than the villages I have been walking through. I find it to be quite uninteresting. I will be happy to walk on manana.

The spacing of accommodation option on the path ahead have led me to the conclusion that I need to stay in León tomorrow (a short 12km away), which will allow time to explore the larger city and then walk a more usual distance the following day. I do not need to know the Way. The Way knows the Way. And so I walk on (manana), open to the gifts and trusting that the Camino has still more to teach me.

Buen Camino!

Here is a link to today’s photos – https://photos.app.goo.gl/meNh4segWeeUqRuE8