Today we got up early, caught a cab at Plaza Mayor, just below our home for the past three days, and said goodbye to the Cathedral and the buried Kings of Leon. The taxi spared us the the experience of Leon's industrial park and gave us an hour head start on our walk.
For over a week we have been walking through the meseta, but it could easily have been Saskatchewan. Outlook, Glenside, Wilkie, Lumsden, Stewart Valley, Moose Jaw, and their environs would not have looked out of place along our path. Most perigrinos barely tolerate the meseta and rejoice at the site of the Cantabrian Mountains. As avowed "flat landers" we respect elevation and some of us even fear it. As the mountains came into our view today and grew larger as we walked towards them we saw the magnitude of the challenge that lay ahead.
For most of the trek we have escaped the extreme heat of the meseta, but today felt 34 degrees on a mostly shadeless road. We tolerated it but not without many stops for water and rest. Today's highlights included seeing storks up close, being buzzed by several powered paragliders, wall art, and a 200 metre 13th century bridge that led to our Albergue. We ate supper at 2:30 and were confused with what we got, I ordered a "number 8," which turned out to be deep fried cheese and bologna with squid, indisputable proof that Newfoundlanders settled Spain or that I gotta learn more Spanish!
