Day 18 Hermanillos de la Calzada to Villarente

We found breakfast in the village since we knew there was nothing on the way for the first 18 km and we needed our coffee before then. Back on the old Roman road (Calzada Romana) heading west as always. It was chilly but the sun was coming up and I chose to wear shorts. Soon it warmed up and the few clouds cleared away. It turned out to be a perfect day. Although the terrain is very flat we are still at 800-900 meters above sea level (2,600 - 3,000 ft) so the air is very clear and the sun hot.
The old roman road is still amazing. Dead straight and elevated between 1-2 meters (3-6ft) above the surrounding land. Most of the land is ploughed ready for planting but crops have not yet started. The spring takes longer at this altitude.

This is a panorama picture and shows how flat it is all round

I always like the first hour of the day and separate myself from the others to enjoy the sounds and the peace. No planes or signs of planes in the sky, the birds singing and each morning the cuckoo calls to wake me up and enjoy the nature. It is my special time for meditation. Today was beautiful. Each time we crossed a river or irrigation canal there were more birds busy and singing and we had a constant view of the mountains to the north of us with the new snow they had received while we trudged through the rain a few days ago. No cars or traffic sounds, just the crunch of my shoes on the gravel.
I was amazed to see some footsteps in what had been mud in the rain two days ago, but has now dried hard that appear to be someone walking barefoot!

The mountains were constantly in view on our right

Then we came to this sign and wondered about steam trains here

But with a roar the peace was shattered as a high speed train suddenly came rushing past. Not quite what the sign had led us to expect.

After a while we stopped at a picnic area and ate our boccadillos. We made excellent progress towards the town we had set for tonight (Mansilla de las Mulas) and were there already at about noon. There was nothing worth stopping for we had passed on the way and we had kept up a good tempo. We stopped for a beer and decided to go on further today so we could take it a little easier on the longer days we have ahead of us where there may be more reason to spend time sightseeing on the way.
Another underground house with chimneys coming out of the earth

We ended at a very comfortable albergue in Villarente, only 12 km before the next bigger city of León. Plenty of hot water and a washing machine for our dirty clothes. We gathered together from the three of us and soon they were out of the washing machine including spin dry which we don't have when we wash by hand. On to the washing line in the sun with a nice breeze and they will be dry before we go to bed tonight. I even opened up my sleeping bag and aired it in the sun.
The garden area where we could enjoy the sunny afternoon while our washing dried. We met several people we had already met before so caught up on their adventures and experiences in English, German, French, Spanish etc. usually at least one of us could help with some translations where necessary.

Dinner tonight at the albergue and then a little more free time to finish this before bed at about 9:30.
Today we walked 31 km, 19 miles for a total of 470 km, 292 miles since we started April 24

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