Leon to Villadangos del Paramo

Total distance today = 13.7 miles

Total ascent = 200 feet

Cumulative distance = 307.7 miles

Wow!  We've hiked over 300 miles as of today, with another 180 miles to go until Santiago de Compestela (and probably another 60 to Finisterre on the ocean).

The streak of good weather ended today. We had massive thunderstorms last night after dinner. It rained cats and dogs, but did not stop the Leon celebratory fireworks, which were around midnight. There is some kind of city holiday today too. The Spaniards do everything late, with many bars and restaurants opening at 10pm, so late fireworks are part of the deal too.

It was just misting lightly as we left our hotel and headed for Puente rio Bernesga, another old Roman bridge. 

Before crossing, we toured Plaza San Marcos. Construction on the monastery began in 1531 but wasn't completed until the 18th century. The monks did not allow any variance from the original plans, so avoided a mish mash of various building styles. 

It now houses the Museo de Leon and a fabulous hotel. Wish we had stayed here. 

So does this peregrino. 

That's the morning's highlight.  The rest was pretty ugly.  As we crossed the bridge, a light rain started to fall and continued all morning as we walked through the ugly Leon suburbs. 

Pedestrian bridge over railroad tracks. 

More hillside bodegas. 

Around noon we entered La Virgen del Camino, home to the minor Basillica Virgen del Camino. 

http://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basílica_de_la_Virgen_del_Camino

Probably the most modern Catholic structure in Spain! We had our credentials stamped for today. 

We now have 27 stamps. 

A few days into the Camino we realized that there is room for only 44 stamps. There isn't enough room for 2 stamps every day. Since we only need to have 2 stamps for the last 100 km, we will get 1 stamp per day on this booklet.  As we start our last 100 km, we will get another credential and have it stamped twice each day. 

After the Basillica, the path was not much fun.  It was raining, we were walking next to a busy road with cars and trucks whizzing by at 60 mph, and the next town was supposed to have a cafe for lunch. 

We did see more storks, and

Another snail. 

But what's better than a high speed road as a walking companion?

How about TWO high speed roads. One on each side. Oh, by the way, thanks for the shade trees, and...

The truck stop. It was kind of interesting to see the windmill blades up close.

Well, it was an ugly day on the Camino, but even today, there were a few things to see, we got another 13 miles out of the way, and tomorrow looks promising - we will cross the longest Roman-era bridge in Spain, one with a lot of history and a great legend about a knight.