DAY 20: Mansillas de las Mulas to Leon

September 23, 2018

Last night was the worst sleep night I’ve had so far. The albergue was hot and noisier than usual. Everyone was up early, but we decided to get a later start because they served breakfast in the albergue at 7:00, so I missed a lot of the walk in the dark. But now we’re in León, another huge milestone. During this whole journey, León seemed so far away. 

We decided to stay in the municipal albergue, Santa Maria de Carbajal, which is a parochial albergue. There was a long line when we arrived and check-in was slow. This is the first albergue that separates men and women in different dorms, but they have one small room, with five bunk beds for couples. They call it the matrimonial room. Enrique and I have a bunk here. Separate gender facilities, but living in sin is ok for the matrimonial room (they never asked if we were married). The bathrooms are also separate and unfortunately the women’s bathroom is downstairs and down a long hallway. They said I can use the men’s bathroom in the middle of the night, if I need it, as long as I lock the door. Still, I like this albergue, and I’m becoming a connoisseur of albergues. 

We ate a huge lunch. Enrique just kept ordering food, in Spanish, so each course was a surprise. Of course, we needed a siesta after that and then we went out to explore León. It’s a beautiful city, with narrow, cobblestone streets and old stone buildings, a huge plaza mayor and, of course, the cathedral. 

Another reason I love Spain…when you ask for directions, people stop, take you by the arm and start leading you in the right direction, point, and give detailed descriptions of where to go. I haven’t seen one person brush us off and we’ve asked for a lot of directions.