A lot has happened since Sahagún. We left town late, waiting for the shops to open to buy spare tubes after having the three flats. It was a lovely day for a ride, warming up with the sun and easy rolling hills. We decided to stay at Mansilla de las Mulasat the albergue Amigos del Peregrino where we stayed two years ago because they have a gas paella grill. After we settled in, we walked around the town taking photos and then we had a glass of beer/wine, complements of Michel Sanchez. Dennis tried on a pilgrim costume and I tought he looked authentic. We found four 
other pilgrims willing to share the paella. Michel and I went shopping, and then everyone joined in the preparations. I missed this community activity earlier on the Camino Juame where there we so few pilgrims, and am glad to get back to it on the Camino Frances.
We left Mansilla in the cold weather and could see that it was snowing in the mountains. About 4 miles from León, we stopped at the famous Bar La Torre in Arcahueja. Michel and I both added to the wall mural. There were other pilgrims there who were also adding their mark to the bar front. I wonder how often the owner paints over everything, providing a clean slate for other pilgrims.
We arriv
ed in León midday. Our plan was to quickly see the city and cathedral and then move on. And then I fell on a curb, barely 1.5 inches tall, which I did not see. Thinking nothing was wrong, I started to get up and then felt a sting. Looking at my leg, I found that I had gashed it across the kneecap. When Michel saw the 4-in. gap, he went in search of medical help. In the mean time, a person walking by saw my leg and ran to the pharmacy for saline solution, Benedictine, and gauze. He cleaned the wound, wrapped it, and left. It happened so fast, that I never had time to thank the Good Samaritan. Very quickly the rescue came and took me to the hospital, with Dennis trying to keep up on his bike. When he lost track of the ambulance, Dennis tried with his limited Spanish to get directions. At last, a Spaniard asked if he spoke German, and then proceed to explain the way to him. Dennis was relieved and grateful to her.
I received about 20 stitches and instructions to stay off the bike for at least a month. Consequently our plans changed. I have no regret about taking the train from León to Santiago, nor about missing the hills, the snow, and the front West winds. I do regret not having been able to say goodbye to Michel.
Since only the local trains take bicycles, it took us eight hours by train to ride about 200 miles between León and Santiago. It was pleasant and we got to see a lot of Galicia and the rural country side. The disadvantage was that we arrived in Santiago at 12:30 A.M., only to find that a convention had filled all the hotels. After pushing my bike around town for almost two hours, a kind hotel receptionist found us a room on the outskirts of the city, near Monte de Gozo. A taxi drove us there and we climbed into bed–exhausted–about 3:00 A.M.
Today, we retrieved our backpacks from the UPS store, did some shopping, check on the train schedule for Lisbon, and took a long nap. Tomorrow we will finish our preparations and, most likely, leave for Lisbon the following day.
