Villar de Mazarife - Villavante

We left Leon this morning.  We really enjoyed the part of the city within the old walls.  There were hardly any cars, just people walking and talking.  It was the quite part of the city considering the congestion surrounding it.  We headed for the Plaza San Marcos and the ancient monastery dedicated to St. Mark (Marcos in Spanish). The first few pictures below are taken out front of the monastery.  It was built in the 12th century and became the headquarters of the Knights of the Order of Santiago which was formed to protect the pilgrim way.  Below is also also a statue of a medieval and a couple of modern day pilgrims sitting at the base of a stone cross, admiring the stately surroundings while resting their weary feet.

Leaving Leon we crossed the Rio Bernesga on a 16th century stone bridge and headed through the outskirts of town.  The first town we got to after Leon was La Virgen del Camino.  As the story goes, a shepherd, in the early 16th century, saw a vison of the Virgin who told him to throw a stone and then build a church on the spot where it landed.  The town became famous on account of miracles performed here.  We continued on and walked through a couple other small villages before stopping in Chozas de Abajo for lunch.  Sandwiches here are called Bodillos and they are usually a big piece of Frenchbread with sliced cheese and ham on it and that's it.  We usually have a small jar of mayonnaise in our backpack to add to it and we ask for tomato to be added,  otherwise you need lots of water to help swallow it down!

Our final destination for today was the pilgrim friendly village of Villar de Mazarife.  The pictures of the church below are taken from the center of that village. Check out the steeple with the 3 stork nests!  The pilgrim statue I took a picture of was in the church courtyard.

Tonight we are staying in a lovely rural quest house.  A creek actually runs under the home!  In the living area they have a clear glass window on the floor that you can look through and see the water flowing by...it's so cool!   The innkeeper's are making us dinner tonight and there is a fire going in the fireplace.  Lee just looked at me and said "I'm not leaving!"  We both would love to have a home like this...it's amazing.  Below are a couple of pictures of the home and it's surroundings.

I may have to pry Lee away, but tomorrow we head for Astorga.