Today we left Sahagún / El Burgo Ranero and headed all the way to León.
Having spent our second night in Sahagún, and catching up with our friends from USA, Germany and Australia/New Zealand who we left behind when doing a double stint a couple of days ago, we took our transfer back to El Burgo Ranero to restart our walk from where we finished yesterday.
It was pretty cold and very overcast as we left El Burgo Ranero. The most popular theory about the origin of the town’s name is that it comes from the number of frogs that populate the lagoons in the area. In 1126 the town is mentioned as Burgo de Sahagún due to the settlement of merchants from Sahagún who wanted to take advantage of the rise in popularity of the Camino de Santiago.
Walking along fairly unremarkable roads we passed the Aeródromo Villamarco, there was no activity there that we could see, and then saw the town of Villamarco in the near distance and crossed over an irrigation channel called Arroyo Madriz de la Cava.
Walking past a couple of “hobbit Houses” or Bodegas and another “monument to pilgrims” we passed through the village of Reliegos and headed down the road to Mansilla de las Mulas, which would be our final destination of the day if we weren’t walking a “double shift”.
Walking into Mansilla de las Mulas we took the opportunity to stop at the Iglesia de Santa Maria. The church, restored more than a decade ago, has three naves and was built in the 17th century on the ruins of its namesake. No stamp available at the church (we think the guardian had not yet arrived as the lights were also off) so, as we walked through the town, we stopped at a random cafe and got our stamp there.
Other than patches of poplar trees (planted in a very regimented fashion) and crossing the Rio Esia and the Rio Moro, it was a pretty uninspiring walk towards León. Of course we saw more storks nesting up high and also a few donkeys and then we got our first glimpse of León in the distance.
We got to our hotel and had to negotiate with housekeeping to have laundry done by tomorrow (after the guy on reception said it was not possible!) and then headed into the old town for a coffee and a deserved / needed ice cream.
Tomorrow is a day of exploration / sightseeing in León.