Camino Trip Day 21: Camino Day 17:

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We packed up, left our backpacks downstairs and headed out the door by dawn. Unfortunately, we forgot to turn in the key. When we got to the cathedral, we were given a fantastic view of the church at sunrise. On our way out of Leon, we passed by the Museo Leon, and the fancy inn or parador attached to it. In front of them, in the Plaza San Marcos, was a nice statue of a pilgrim. Apparently we passed through Trobajo del Camino without even realizing it, although I got to point out to my wife the wine cellars I'd seen the last trip. We reached Virgen del Camino in about 2 hours. Here was is the split that we had to make sure to take to get to Villar de Mazarife. There was also a cool looking church there, The Basilica Menor, with its weird statues. We took the left fork and about an hour after we entered Freson del Camino, passed through it and entered Oncina de la Valdoncina. Here we stopped for breakfast at the La Pintxoteca cafe/bar. We both got tortillas and coffee with milk. I thought the tortilla was pretty good, but Manoli wasn't impressed. The owner seemed a bit like he didn't want to be there, but.. oh well. A bit over an hour later, we entered Chozas del Abajo and stopped for a coffee break.

Just after noon, we got to Villar de Mazarife and easily found our albergue, since it was the first one we came to. It dawned on me later that this was the same albergue that Rareesh and I had stayed in on our Camino in 2017. What keyed me was the "private" kitchen. They serve dinner at 7pm and apparently feel the kitchen should be off limits all the time. I did get them to give me a cup of hot water for my instant cappuccino. After we checked in and stowed our gear, we went down the street to about the only bar/cafe open, Bar La Torre. Manoli ordered a bean soup and I ordered a plate of patatas bravas and mini pinchitos. My order was a mistake, not because it wasn't good, but because it was too much. The patatas bravas was a pretty large plate, and the "mini" pinchitos were 8 pinchos of chicken. Oh well, it was good, and I can finish the pinchitos for dinner.

We went back to the albergue, took showers, and lounged around for a while, then we went back out to the only store in town for some goodies to eat tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow we head for Astorga and the municipal albergue, which I think I stayed at in 2017.

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