El Acebo de San Miguel; Day 29; 16.5km/9.9 miles

We started off in the damp mist in the dark so we could hopefully reach Cruz de Ferro at sunrise or daybreak…did well until Debbie’s headlamp failed and we slowed down a bit…even so, we witnessed our best sunrise yet and a lightly expressed rainbow at the Cross! First 2 blogs will show a series of the sunrise…next Cruz de Ferro…

We’re going to listen to live Gregorian Chants this evening!

Day 29; 24.2km/14.5 miles; under 250km left of 790km; that’s 156/500 miles left

Ups and downs today and some beautiful churches along the way…unfortunately the Astorga Cathedral was not open when we got there…but, we did enjoy a great breakfast and watched the Spanish clock figures strike the clock…

Please pray for us as we climb steeply to Cristo de Ferro tomorrow morning… we will be leaving items we each brought that have special significance…Buen Camino

San Justo de la Vega; Day 28; 24.9 km/15 miles

Took us about 6 km/9 miles to get out of León…the first 2/3 of today was along the autobon and it was very noisy! The last section was nice and we had several uphill climbs…arrived in time for an excellent late lunch…enjoy the few photos! The next two days find us climbing up into the mountains…please keep us in your prayers! Buen Camino

Walked about before everything closed at 1400 for the day since it’s Saturday…met up with friends we’ve been walking with for most of our journey…just shared a meal and met new friends from OH!

Villadangos del Paramo; Day 27; 20 km/12.5 miles plus 6 km/4 miles thru León

Pretty non descriptive walk through the industrial section and suburbs of Leon… however we walked for a while with a 70 year old couple who last year walked 2500 km/1562 miles from Hamburg GE to Rome Italy…they tent camped all the way!!!…very impressive

Last night was the last León Pilgrim Mass for the year…Fr Jim Perkle from MN concelebrated…he is good friends with Bishop Peter…Divine appointment ehh!…so another Blessing from a Holy Priest named Fr Pasqual… only a couple photos from last evening and today after the walk

Could not adequately capture the 1,300 meters of stained glass windows so I didn’t try…needless to say, it was staggering how in the 1200’s they faced the building to best capture the sunlight AND the side that doesn’t see direct sunlight is in cool blues with the Old Testament …

The sunniest side is in warm colors and depicts the New Testament…shedding darkness with the coming of Jesus!

It only took 50 years for a small town to build this architectural wonder…