As I left my room and crept down the wide carpeted hall of the Parador, I spied another couple of pilgrims...and they spied me! We exchanged guilty looks, smiled and kept walking. It was time to check out and rejoin the Camino, as a real Pilgrim.
Outside, I mingled with a whole host of other pilgrims. The yellow arrows of "the way" went right past the parador and they were stopping to take pictures. They thought I was too. I left it that way. Only Marcelo, Pierre and Alan knew where I had stayed last night. I had earned the nick name "princess" and was ok with wearing it proudly but never felt the need to tell others.
We caught the bus 5km out of town. Having taken our tired tourist feet all over León yesterday, is not like we were skipping steps. The 5km leaving León is through the industrial area. Not nice or very healthy! We rejoined the Camino at about 11am. A late start but only a 20km hike today, so no big deal. It was sunny and mostly flat. I enjoyed the gentleness of it and felt completely revived by my overnight hiatus.
It wasn't long before I saw this little sign from God (or supportive Pilgrim!)
300km to Santiago! Seems like just yesterday I was celebrating my 200km accomplishment. Those were the days... no toothache, no blisters, no rain! I had no idea what I had signed up for... ignorance IS bliss. I'm about 2 weeks from Santiago and while it's going to be a long 2 weeks, I wouldn't change a thing.
Yep, the road is soooo long and straight today. Much like the messeta. I will remember this when we hit the hills in a few days and the variation I crave, comes with sweat and effort.
Pierre and I rounded the corner to our albergue late in the afternoon, only to be greeted by Alan and Marcelo with a bottle of vino tinto and four glasses. A truly touching gesture and one that we drank before checking in.
The albergue was clean and new. It had a talking parrot. "Ola!!!"
And a massaging chair: €2 for 16 minutes.
Of course I used the chair! Hahaha. I'm no fool.
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