Day 17 Mansilla de las Mulas

Portion of old wall in Mansilla de las Mulas
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Today I walked 20 kilometers to the town of Mansilla de Las Mulas, a little town of about 2,000 that has been a main pilgrim halt for a thousand years or so.  It´s an old walled town, with portions of the wall still standing.

Funny, after complaining so much about the mountains and hills, you would think I´d be quite content to walk on flat ground for awhile.  But it was a hard day, I guess there´s just no pleasing some people.  20 kilometers is only 12 miles, so it was shorter than some previous days.  Yet it seemed every bit as long - I guess the last few kilometers seem long no matter how many have preceded them.  Words of wisdom.

€2 Wine! and good, too

Street scene in Mansilla de las Mulas
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I ran into Silvana and Annamaria, two Italian girls in their 20´s (I think) whom I had met yesterday in El Burgo Ranero.  They will decide in Leon whether or not they can continue the camino - Annamaria has had problems with her legs (or feet, I´m not sure which.)  They invited me to eat pasta with them in the albergue, so I went out and bought wine and chocolate.  The liter of wine was less than €2, while the chocolate bar was over €2.  But it was 72% dark chocolate, so I bought it anyway.  The €2 wine was excellent, and so far all the wines have been here.

courtyard in the Mansilla albergue
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The albergue building is actually a number of houses all connected together with a central courtyard.  It holds over 50 pilgrims and wasn´t full.  The hospitaleros (managers) were very friendly, and that feeling was contagious and affected all the pilgrims.  The cost of most albergues is minimal, and the cost in this one was €4, the cost of wine and chocolate, as it happens.

Continuing my stories of Camino pilgrims... Today I met Paul from Ireland who has lived in Spain and is fluent in Spanish.  When I mentioned that I thought I had screwed up my bank internet login ID, and might have locked out my account, he immediately offered me €50, even though he had mever met me before.  Another English speaking pilgrim was Ann from Wisconsin, travelling with her boyfriend Zach.  They are university age, and I forget why they decided on the Camino.  A group from New Zealand was finishing their dinner as the Italian sisters and I were beginning ours - turns out they are Sarah and Toby, and Sarah´s mom Tinneke (spelling?) Sarah and Toby are planning to live in Europe for two years, and they decided that the Camino was a great way to begin.  Tinneke, who seemed to be about my age, was along for the walk.  I told them about 80-year-old Graham from Auckland, they said they´ll listen out for another New Zealand accent at the albergues.

Pilgrim lounge at the albergue in Mansilla de Las Mulas
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Tomorrow it´s on to Leon, another 18 km., to meet my friend Diane and her daughter Megan, who will walk with me the next 2 weeks.  Leon is another of the "big" cities on the Camino.  (After Pamplona, Burgos, and eventually, Santiago itself.)