I had a nice day in Leon, apart from it being a Sunday. I needed to get some supplies but everything was shut. The cathedral is a stunner outside and in, and it is free entry unlike Burgos. The amount of stained glass sets the cathedral off with so many colours. As it was a Sunday there was a service going on and the organ filled the cathedral with music.
On the night, I was sleeping well until I got woken at 02:30 by some noisy people getting back and making as much noise as possible. Tried to block it out with some music but this didn’t help. Two hours later they were asleep, and so was I.
I left the hotel early. First stop was Astorga. The route was a steady incline along the N120 but my pace was good. At Astorga I bumped into three French cyclists, one had quit because his chain had snapped. They were amazed that I could fix it. This slowed me down somewhat but I wa
s only planning on doing 73km today, and only had 20km left to Rabanal Del Camino.
After fixing the chain, and saying goodbye I was on my way again, not before eating two large custard filled tarts, for the sugar of course! Still a steady incline all the way to Rabanal, only a little steeper. I’m told it gets steeper after this, up to the highest point on the camino, bring it on I say, looking forward to the steep downhill into Ponferrada.
Rabanal is a beautiful little farming village. There are two hotels and just as many hostals. I reserved my room ahead, it may not be the cheapest but at least it’s not a refugio! My room is the one with the flags on the balcony. The three French guys turned up an hour or so after me. They said they will thank me in beer later, that sounds good to me!