18Kilometres to León; Easy Peasy.

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Crossed the Rio Elsa at 7am this morning and set off for León. We arrived at Villarente only to find nothing open, but after a walk along the edge of a busy road, l spotted a panadería and we went and bought some mini croissants for breakfast. The baker told us about a cafe a kilometre away so the caffeine hit occurred there. Dave, our English friend, arrived for his morning cup of tea and commented that now he believed we really walked. He never normally sees us during the day as we leave earlier and walk at a good pace. At all other times he walks into a destination to see John enjoying a beer and me reading the guide. We do walk !

The rest of the walk to León was fairly mundane and involved a long walk through suburban streets. I went to the Benedictine Alburgue to buy a second credential as the original will only get me a few more days. We then found our hotel, next to the train station, over the river from the old town.

It's pretty good and has a view over the river. I need to do some washing so I might look for a laundrette or see if I can pay here. The Orange Store also needs a visit to recharge the phone. Busy, busy !

This afternoon I went for a ride on the Tourist Train ( or Choo Choo Train as it's known in the Sherry household ), and so with 100%attendance per visit to León, it should now be viewed as a tradition. John didn't see the importance of this ride so he went to the Cathedral ; a great alternative.

We went to the Pantheon Museum at San Isidoro an it's quite an amazing place. Unfortunately, it is strictly no photos , so it's memories only. I'm currently doing a load of washing and John has gone off to buy some shoes. I find handwashing socks smeared with vasoline isn't very effective so this should do the trick.

I'm not sure what's happening for dinner tonight but there is a pilgrim mass at San Isidoro at 7.30am tomorrow and I'm considering going. We'll see!

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Photos

Viillarente Bridge
Clearly built in a time when water flowed freely.

A Stall Working On The Honesty System
Take what you like and leave what you think is fair. I believe it really works.

Camino Sign
From a distance I thought it was a koala; it's a lion from León.

Spanish Parking
Not dissimilar to Italy.

The Badlands.
These city outskirts seem to go on and on.

The old city walls.
The smaller outer deterrent and the larger interior wall.

Santa Maria Church
Near the Benedictines and closely associated with them.

The New Passport
Won't need it for a few days. Jon thinks I'm a stamp collector but it's more as a visual record of where you visited.

Dressing Up The Buildings
This is pretty common in Spain and is a lovely way to dress up drab; although there's nothing drab about this building.

León's Cathedral
An amazing Romanesque church.

Alert! Donkeys In The Plaza
These guys had walked from Finisterre and were continuing on to Switzerland ; you do the math.

Potential Gifts For Ezra.
I just can't choose!

The Tourist Train.
Choo! Choo!

4th Century Walls.....
....from the ChooChoo Train.