We stayed at the hotel Albergueria del Camino, a zero star but very nice, if a bit bohemian, place.
My room overlooked the courtyard area of the hotel, with a side view of the Iglesia de Santa Maria. While the bed was comfortable, the noise from the people in the courtyard meant keeping the balcony doors shut until they had all left.
As we left town and crossed the River Elsa via a 12th century bridge, that spanned parklands as well as river, the sun was out and the lack of wind made it a pleasant temperature. Continuing the last few days theme of walking beside the road, we passed poppy laden hedgerows and arable fields with the last remaining vestiges of the old irrigation systems still visible.
We continued our walk along dusty gravel paths, through some wooded areas lined with “tree snow” and past farmlands, before crossing the Rio Parma and passing through into Puente Villarente.
A quick stop at a fruit shop for some cherries (just in season), incredible that just over 1kg of cherries cost €6, a fraction of what they would cost at home. On the way out of town we spotted a Buzzard soaring overhead and a Stork (with baby) nesting on an electricity pylon.
As we edged closer to León the scenery changed as we walked through a (boring) commercial / industrial area before passing a lovely donkey, getting a great view of the Picos de Europa and our first views of León itself (and the cathedral – see if you can spot it in the last photo!)
We then walked into the old town part of León by seeing more storks nesting, crossing the Rio Torio, passing the ancient city walls and marvelling at the Gaudi designed Casa Botines.
To celebrate arriving in León and a rest day ahead, we enjoyed a celebratory ice-cream in front of the cathedral.
