Camino Day Twenty-Five- Leon to Villavante (19.3 Miles)

We were sad to leave Leon after such an enjoyable stay but the Way was calling. Took us an hour plus to get out of the city and back in the countryside. We were walking one of the longest stages , over nineteen miles. Right before we left the suburbs of Leon we came upon the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Way. In 1505 a shepherd saw a star and followed it to a field where the Virgin Mary threw a stone. As the stone rolled it miraculously grew into a bolder. Mary told the shepherd to show the authorities and to have them build a church in her honor. They did: the original church was constructed in 1513. The current church is a modern church built in 1961 and is stunning. It was nice to finally see a “newly constructed ” church with the same beauty of the older churches. We power walked the first three hours which means for us we try and walk at a pace of 2.75 miles per hour. The landscape of the land was beautiful, rolling hills with small oak trees and grasses. Weather was perfect again.

Halfway through the day we passed the 300 kilometers (186 miles) left to get to Santiago. That means we have already walked over 500 Km and this little marker spurred us on. We arrived at our hotel, Molino Galochas. It is located out in the country, half a mile from the town of Villavante and was previously an old mill. Very cool place to stay. Had a very nice Pilgrims Meal at the communal table with six woman from Australia and one from Iowa. It was fun for us all to share our Camino stories.