31.8km

The zero day in León was good to rest and explore the city. It also snowed, so León became a winter wonderland. We had good churros at a place called La Antigua, visited Basilica de San Isidoro and León Cathedral, sampled the local morcilla (black pudding), and had some tapas (León is famous for giving free tapas with each drink you get). Unfortunately, most bars are not open on Wednesday, so if you do come to León for tapas, do time it for another day of the week.

I have a really good sleep, waking up naturally at 8am. It’s -1°C, cold but the weather is clear, and it feels fresh. We find a bar on the Camino route to start our day. I have a coffee and a carrot cake. At the bar, Edoardo gifts Ingrid and me a Tau cross, the symbol of Saint Francis of Assisi. He bought them at the albergue before we left.

We start walking at 10am. It’s a long way out of León. Some of the sidewalks have ice frozen over them, and I have my first slip and fall. We cross into Trobajo del Camino, which is more of a town demarcated as separate from the city of León rather than a town in itself. There are a lot of Chinese shops here.

We walk through industrial areas after that, but the snow makes everything look beautiful, shining in the sun.

Around noon, it gets warmer and I stop to take my fleece jacket off. Ingrid and Edoardo go ahead.

After La Virgen del Camino, there’s a split for two routes, and I take the traditional route. We decided we’ll do this instead of taking the potentially more beautiful alternative, in case of unforeseen weather. Aprinca shows that there are a few options to stop at on the traditional route, while for the alternative route, there’s none until Hospital de Órbigo. The traditional route is mostly next to roads.

I’ve been walking for quite a bit but have yet to reach any countryside, unlike the other days. It’s still unique though, walking down a “long sidewalk”, and it’s interesting to see a variety of urban living. Today, we have the sound of passing cars for company.

At the start of the town of San Miguel del Camino, I walk past a bar which has a sign on the door which says “cerrado los miércoles”, so I continue on, thinking it is closed today. But today is actually Thursday, not Wednesday. Edoardo runs out of the bar to call me inside, and Ingrid and Gerlinde are there too. I get some small tuna sandwich pinchos, sopa con fideuá (soup with some noodles) and a coffee.

We leave together, walking past some traditional bodegas along the path, which is fascinating.

We reach areas with snow that has melted. The cold air is still refreshing. There are occasional gusts of wind, that are thankfully not too strong.

At San Martín del Camino, Ingrid and I decide to go further to Hospital de Órbigo because we are feeling good. It starts drizzling a little heavier after we leave the town. We walk next to a highway and some wheat fields, and I realise we haven’t seen vineyards in a while.

The sun sets in front of us, diffused by and coming out occasionally from the immense cloud cover. When the sun comes out, it backlights everything and shines through the translucent grass, so everything seems to glow. I follow the bob of Ingrid’s backpack in front of me.

Close to Hospital de Orbigo, the path breaks off from the highway. It’s a muddy path, with a red brick tower ahead of us. Nearer to the tower there are some cow pats, and we soon see the source—there are a bunch of black and white cows to the side.

Hospital de Órbigo is under grey clouds, but it is still beautiful. It used to be called Puente de Órbigo (Bridge of Órbigo), probably because of its majestic bridge that goes over the Río Órbigo. The name changed when a pilgrim hospital was established there.

The town is quiet—we only saw one guy on the way in. We head to La Encina Hostel and find out that…it’s closed! It’s a reminder to always call ahead, even if a place is listed on Aprinca. We sit at the steps of the hostel and make some calls. We also try the municipal albergue which the Buen Camino app says is open. It’s closed, but the owner says his daughter runs La Encina Hostel and can help us (maybe they’re all related). After Ingrid goes in circles in a call with the guy, his other daughter walks past and tells us she can open the hostel specially for us. It is not meant to be open, but she gives us an available room out of kindness as she happened to be in town. We are relieved to have a clean, warm place to stay.

We find an open bar which serves some dinner. We both get the goat cheese burger which is amazing, and some local beer, Mahou Maestra. It’s a good night.