Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that this summer (2018) I walked 190km along the Camino de Santiago, from Burgos to Léon in Spain. This is the third leg of the Camino which I started in 2016 (if you’re interested, I wrote a Q&A post in response to some of the questions people had asked me along the way that year), I’m completing a leg each summer until 2020. This is Day 24 (other posts linked at the end of this post).
Camino Frances Day 24: El Burgo Ranero to Mansilla de las Mulas (approx 19 km)
Last “long” day today (for this year)! The guidebook says that we’ll find plenty of mature trees along this stretch offering some shade but also suggests that we will encounter “monotony [that] is relieved by several small streams, mostly dry in summer”. Sounds enticing, huh? 😉
The day started out with a big breakfast in El Burgo Ranero…
Which was good because I didn’t end up eating properly until dinner time today. Since it was such a “short” day, I knew I’d probably only stop briefly for a coffee before arriving sometime around noon which would put me firmly in naptime by the time lunch would be served!
The guidebook was right and this stretch was particularly monotonous in terms of landscape. I mean…
Early on in the day, there were a few “rest stops” to break the monotony…
Um, “needs improvement”…
But there was a really great coffee in Reliegos (home to many bodegas – wineries/ wine stores built into the side of hills)…
But it was time to press on with just 6km to go (and the bodegas were not open anyway – boo!). And just when you thought it was all smooth sailing (i.e. flat terrain) this popped up:
Wait, what?
Yup…
Ugh – doesn’t look like much but in the blazing sun after 15ish km this was a nasty surprise. And THEN, just outside Mansilla de las Mulas…
Yup, one more hill. Boy was I happy to arrive in pretty Mansilla de las Mulas…
And arrive at Albergueria del Camino… There was a welcome drink at this friendly, family-run place.
The Algergueria only has four rooms but lovely common spaces…
And then THIS was a very welcome sight:
With THIS view:
The bed and the bathtub (!) occupied me for most of the afternoon as napped and stretched my legs in a warm bath but later, as the town was rousing from siesta, I took a little stroll around…
So very pretty! There were a number of restaurants I was interested in checking out but sadly for me, many of them only started serving dinner at 9pm. This is typical and it’s totally fine unless you haven’t eaten properly since breakfast and you have 20km to walk the following morning so I headed back to my hotel as they had mentioned they provided dinner if I was interested. Well before 9pm, I sat down in the courtyard and enjoyed a 12€ “pilgrim meal”:
This was a nice change – lots of veggies in the salad, meatballs (!) – and not a huge serving, just those 5 – and watermelon for dessert. Perfect (and I was in bed around the time most people would be starting their appetizers in other restaurants!). I’d highly recommend the Albergueria as a place to stay and eat in Mansilla de las Mulas 🙂
ONE. DAY. TO . GO. (well, this summer anyway!). Stay tuned for the final day of this year’s Camino walk next week!
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Disclosure: I researched Camino trips independently and chose the Camino Travel Center based on a number of features such as flexibility to accommodate a couple of “splits” in some of the longer days, price and customer service. They were, in fact the first company I came across in my very first Google search and the one I ended up booking with. From the initial inquiry to the actual trips, they have been a pleasure to deal with and we have been very impressed with the service provided (bag transportation) and the accommodation choices. I was not compensated to write about this trip in any way but I love sharing companies and products I believe in with my readers. I couldn’t recommend the Camino Travel Center more and, in fact, am booking another Camino walk with them for next summer (and every summer until I reach Santiago!).
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