A day in Leon

Let's say right up front that there are way too many pix today, and will probably be broken into several posts so that the gerbils running the wifi will not burst and die from the effort :-).

First, last night - I could kick myself for not taking a photo of our host, Pedro, and his lovely wife and daughter. The Alburgue Ada in Reliegos is normally open from early March to late October, the family is from Bilbao. They opened late (just yesterday!) because Pedro is waiting for a prosthetic knee and was struggling to be able to work. So, the albergue, like all the others, ended up being full to bursting (someone slept in the meditation room) and folks were turned away.
The walls of the albergue are decorated with some lovely paintings done by Ada, Pedro's daughter, who is in her 20s and has Down's Syndrome. She also knits and is an excellent waitress and kitchen helper for her Mom and Dad. We didn't arrange to have the communal vegetarian meal but it smelled exquisite and those who did eat at the albergue said it was superb. Altogether, it was a sweet, well maintained, and warmly welcoming, if crowded, place to sleep.

So this morning we slept in! It was truly amazing, but no one stirred until 6:30 and the lights didn't go on until 7:00. We had coffee and toast, said farewell to Pedro and set out for Manzanillas de los Mulas, about 6km down the road. A couple of markers on the way, as well as the local ag equipment dealer.








Then we spent the absolute best 1.65 euro so far to ride the bus from this little outskirts town to the center of Leon!
Here's what we missed walking by - the last one is the Spanish version of Home Depot








Coming into Leon from the bus station, this is a beautiful city.











This last photo is a shout out to J and Sarah Boardman and the other fashion movers and shakers in my life - I loved the mannequin topiaries in the upper windows of this boutique!
Oh, and we found Elvis in Leon, he wasn't in Reliegos at all.


There was a gorgeous Saturday market in one of the city center plazas!








B needed this last photo, it reminded him of a simple, somewhat heretical camping "grace" - "Thank You for the beans and meat, Oh my God, let us eat"

To be continued -
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