Today we walked 6 miles (10 km) in 2 hours.

We’re back on the path of the yellow arrows! :-)

It was a short day of walking but a long day of traveling. Our flight from Dallas to Madrid was delayed, so we missed the train to Leon that we’d planned on taking but were able to switch our tickets to the next one without any problems. Ted and Lisa flew in from Sweden a couple of days early and we met them at the train station.

Three hours later we were all in Leon and got a 20 minute taxi back to the tiny village of Villar de Mazarife. We said hello to the people at the convenience store where we ended our Camino last year, got stamps in our Camino passports, had our picture taken in front of the store, and started walking.

It was a relatively easy walk, mostly on paved road, and we were at our destination after a quick two hours. But after a nine and a half hour flight and a three hour train ride, Kathey and I were short on sleep and low on energy, so the half day of walking felt like a full one.

The Albergue Santa Lucia in Villavante is a winner. We had a nice dinner here, and the four of us talked and caught up on what’s been happening since we last saw each other in Madrid a year ago. We decided to get double rooms tonight and give ourselves a night of good sleep before getting back into the routine of bunk beds, shared bathrooms, and earplugs.

Tomorrow will be a full day as we finally leave the flat plains of the Meseta (that we spent all of last year’s Camino on) and make our way towards the beginning of the Cantabrian mountains.

Here are a few pictures from today. It’s nice to be back in Spain. :-)