Leon to Mazarife

Creaking beds and rustling backpacks acted like an alarm clock, except this one didn't have a snooze button. Once the lights came on it was nearly impossible to try and ignore the fact that another day had begun. We've been lazy lately by allowing ourselves to sleep in, but we're not complaining. Business as usual: pack your bag, grab toast and jam (which no longer suffices as breakfast), brush your teeth, and head out. Crissi was the last to join us in the courtyard, and we started walking.

Stone streets glistened in the light of the rising sun as it shown down middle of the avenue as we passed by the cathedral. After a quick stop for some coffee we said goodbye to the old city center and started to head out of town.

It took most of the morning for us to even make it out of the city.

The Way went past the scenic landmarks towards the Plaza de San Marcos which had several monuments to the pilgrims. We crossed the Rio Bernesga and walked through more metropolitan areas, some of them industrial with fields of weeds opposite their gray buildings.

Finally after a short uphill gain, walking along a busy highway, and two hours later, we arrived in Virgen del camino. Starving, we stopped at a small bar on the side of the road. Crissi and Bianca were amazed that we had been walking through León this whole time, and only now finally left the city behind.

We picked up a new companion to walk with us for the day: Kim from Australia.

The time had come for a decision: stay on the highway and go down the alternate route, or follow the traditional scenic route. Crissi and I remembered how badly we had been burned (literally) the last time we chose the scenic route. Chiro had also told us that the scenic route was terrible but we decided to ignore his advice because no one wanted to spend three hours walking along a busy noisy highway.

Our scenic route had to cross through a scraggly patch of earth in order to cross one more highway. Luckily it was an underpass which took us to Fresno del Camino, but we left the town almost as fast as we had entered it for there wasn't much to see.

Oncina was the next town after Fresno. We stopped at a small church after crossing the bridge into town. Disappointed that the snack shop next to the church wasn't open we stocked up on water at the fountain and took the small paved road as it transitioned into a pleasant dirt path through the fields.

At last, the scenic route had arrived.

Sure, it was still mostly flat. But it still possessed enough of a change to keep it interesting. And, we were surrounded by vegetation on all sides. One thing we won't be escaping any time soon though is the red dirt. Looks like this shit will be following us for quite a while.

I walked fast today, and quickly pulled ahead of the others. Nothing but gently rolling fields dotted with islands of ground green trees kept me company as I pushed myself past shady rest areas. The dirt path gradually shifted back into a paved road, which sucks. But the sun was out, the sky empty, and thankfully the heat was late to the party.

A spare pair of shoes stood on a marker as an offering to any pilgrim who might need them. Besides the plants growing inside of them, and the absence of shoelaces, they were in pretty good shape. And to be honest, the thought of grabbing them briefly crossed my mind, but then I thought of the extra weight and quickly discarded the idea.

Chozas de Abajo, and a much needed break, appeared in the distance as I topped the next hill. I waited at the entrance of the town for the others to catch up and see me. I slowly headed into the center whilst making sure that they were still behind me. We found the only open establishment and took a break on its front porch.

When we walked up and dropped our bags I recognized Drew whom I had briefly met in Pamplona while walking around with Tania. And a few moments later another Pilgrim arrived and joined us at our table. Her name was Cerstin from Germany, and she had started her camino in Burgos.

I'm not sure who suggested it, but there was an albergue up ahead that had a swimming pool. It was a no brainer, given the high temps over the past few days. So, our home for the night would hopefully be Casa de Jesus.

On the walk to Mazarife I grilled Cerstin on the political systems of Germany. It was a nice way to pass the next hour.

We arrived at Casa de Jesus, and sure enough, there it was: the swimming pool. We were eager to strip down to our skivvies and go for a dip, especially in this hot sun, but first we needed to do some shopping for dinner.

Afterwards we sat chatting with Louis, Crissi, Kim, Cerstin, Hannah (Germany), and Drew. We went over all of the things that are different between British, German, Aussie, and American culture. It was hilarious, especially the animal noises.

Once the sun finally moved out of high position in the sky Cerstin and I swam in the pool for a bit before cooking dinner.

Our meal cost a total of 14 euros, which isn't bad for 8 people. The kitchen was tiny, and everyone needed to use it, so we made sure to not use all of the electric stove burners again and trip another circuit breaker.

As we all sat down to eat it was nice to see the table fill up with friends who were slowly becoming like family. Dinner consisted of another lovely course of salad, pasta with capers, and bread.

I sat outside for a while afterwards chatting with Cerstin and Drew. Drew, it turns out, got his entire camino trip sponsored by entering a contest of sorts in which he would promise to write about the Camino and promote the websites brand. Not a bad idea!

Maddy, who has a younger sister, found out that her sister will be arriving later tonight and will join us on the Camino starting tomorrow.

The gray clouds in the distance were slowly growing in size, pushing their way higher and higher into the sky, as a busload of children arrived. They stayed in another part of the Albergue and would be doing two days of the Camino, starting tomorrow.

We watched the clouds as they moved closer. Tomorrow was going to be another 30+ kilometer day, and hopefully the rain would pass us by.