León to Villar de Mazarife

May 29- León to Villar de Mazarife
It was a bit of a strange night in León for some reason. Our room was painted a very bright yellow on three walls and orange on the other and was reminiscent of an old university dorm. In fact a part of the building is still used as a residence for university students and it has that kind of energy rather than tired or drunk pilgrim energy. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it and  they are considerate and kind, but for whatever reason neither one of us slept very well and we were happy to get up and get going.
We had a full breakfast across the street - freshly squeezed orange juice, café con leche, tortilla (eggs with potatoes) and toast - all for 3€uros each. Then we followed the yellow arrows out of town, and followed and followed and followed. It seemed like we would never get out of León and in fact it is about 7 kilometers before there's any relief from the city. Even then we were in Virgen del Camino so it still took another few blocks to get away from the buildings and traffic. We stopped for a coffee in a little restaurant where I have stopped every time I've been past here (this is my 4th time) and the people are always cheerful and friendly, greeting everyone who passes by whether they stop or not.

On we went but after another few kilometers we were still feeling so shellshocked from all of the traffic noises earlier we stopped at the next available bar for a breather. We felt better after sitting and chatting and eating an egg bocadillo and were finally ready to go on for the last 12 or 14 kilometers that we had to do. We headed up to a plateau on the road this time. in previous years we were directed  right up on to the plateau but this time it was the road. There were a couple of small bumps but for the most part it was flat. The colours were beautiful. The grasses varied from the bright yellow-green of the wheat to a more blue-green of one of the wild grasses and then grasses with a silver-grey and purple sheaves. The wild flowers were abundant, noticeably various purples including Spanish lavender and wild hyacinths. There were blue and purple lupins  and flowers in whites, yellows, pinks and, of course red poppies.  The road seemed endless as it headed flat and straight to our destination, but eventually we arrived and headed for the showers to get warm and clean. Our chores are done and we're relaxing before a vegetarian dinner which is being prepared by the owners of the albergue. I can't remember what they said we were having but it does include salad, pumpkin soup and crepes with 4 kinds of chocolate (there are 4 kinds of chocolate?). Man we are suffering here on the camino!