Day 18 - Sahagún to León

    A productive (and mostly predictable) day.

    We rode our bikes most of the 59km from Sahagún to León.  Today was about 2/3 on asphalt, which more sorer spots appreciated.  Initially, it was a lot of farmland on backroads.  But then the roads started to have more traffic.  As we got closer to León, it got busier, and busier - and the Camino walkway also got busier.  We did our best to be courteous in passing the hikers, but once we got to the city, we really had no choice but to walk the bikes the last mile.  The traffic was just too much.

    We are glad to be rid of the bikes.  We both have sore spots from 180km on untrained muscles, and slightly mis-sized bikes.  Don't get me wrong - without the E- in E-bikes, I'm not sure we could have done this on the steepest sections, and with each of us carrying a hefty load, but there is still a lot of pedaling to be done (we couldn't run out the battery mid-leg by overusing the bikes' power) and just 'maintaining the position' for several hours (for us non-cyclist folk) takes some endurance.  As does sitting in a seat designed by the Spanish Inquisition.

    Once we got to the hotel, we contacted the bike company, and they arranged to pick them up from the hotel.
    Went to the post-office (across the street from the hotel - Jana did an awesome job arranging that) and picked up the luggage we mailed from Burgos.
    Cleaned up and got food at a Spanish/Chinese fusion restaurant (good food!).
    Did laundry. 
    Got some food for breakfast (some muffins being sold at a Convent [they were open]).
    Got an 'early' dinner at Burger King at 6PM [they were open].
    Contacted the shipping agency to move our luggage tomorrow to our booked room.

    So tomorrow, we are walking again.  We are taking a shorter day (20.5km).  We have reservations, so we can take our time.  It will be cooler.  It should be a good day.  And we will again be better able to look at the nature.

    We will use the banked-time from the 180km in 3 days (would be 6-7 days walking) to ensure we stay healthy.

    Saw 22 birds today, including a new one (got a picture of the marsh, but not the bird - a Greater Reed Warbler - they were everywhere making all sorts of noise, but mostly stayed hidden within the reeds and only made very brief appearances).

    Now for some photos:

    VIDEO - Last night, the Common Swifts were going nuts outside our room.  This video is only a small fraction of what we could see.  And the shrieking was eerie:

    Some interesting art on the roof of our lobby this morning.  I'm guessing someone was paid for this:

    A church a few blocks from where we spent the night:

    And the Arch to Sahagún (as we left) just after dawn this morning.  And on that arch, our first White Stork of the day.

    After a few km, we heard a lot of loud birdsong that was unique - I saw a turn-in to a wetland and saw both Common Reed Warblers and Great Reed Warblers, but they stuck to the reeds, and I did not get any usable images.  Other than the wetland itself.  A bunch of waterfowl at the back, too - but I could not get close enough to identify, and we had to keep moving.

    At El Burgo, we ate 1st breakfast.  This statue was at the entrance to the town.

    And Santas Martas Rellegos - where we ate 2nd breakfast (hard boiled eggs and cookies - it really wasn't about the food, but a chance to rest for a few minutes).  

    A pleasant park, where we walked our bikes across a bridge - the traffic bridge is just to our North, and the river continues to the South.  This would definitely be a good place to spend an afternoon:

    Entering León, A tower flanked by Stork nests.

    We have luggage!

    Our Asian-Fusion lunch.  I won't bother with our BK tray of food:

    We are staying in a strange pseudo-futuristic hotel tonight.  One aspect is that the lighting is from below, and only turns on when the motion-sensors detect you:

    And see that control panel above the phone?  That controls everything in the room (no light-switches).  Buttons on this panel turn on/off each of the many lights, controls the curtains, and blackout shutters for the windows.  It is all very strange.  Shower is also push-button to turn water off/on (cannot control water flow-rate - on or off).

And there is this weird closet that is enclosed in glass (just past the desk).  It has its own lighting.  Controlled by the panel.

    this is the unassuming convent where we bought muffins for breakfast.  The nun that sold them was very pleasant.