Day VIII EL BURGO RANERO TO MANSILLA de las MULAS 19 KM

The Camino de Santiago is a metaphor.

It is a metaphor for the Road of Life. Each day the Camino gives us something new: a new experience, a new challenge, a new blister, a new joy, a new sorrow, a new achievement, a new defeat, a new friend. Walking the Camino affords us the time and opportunity to see, understand and accept what we have encountered both on that day and on our entire Road of Life.

We had better take plenty of water on this stage. The advice is:- “ brace yourself for what is the second longest stretch of the Way without a town or village. You will spend almost three hours on a plain…the track is in good condition…About an hour after starting out you come to a picnic and rest area”SR

After the area de Descanso the Camino rejoins the Calzada Romana at Reliegos. “ The modern village of Reliegos ,a former Roman village that was settled in the 10 th century, has few vestiges of its past ( though you can see many wonderful private family bodegas tucked into the hillsides like Hobbit holes…BB

“If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” The Hobbit.”Now they are used as warehouses or,more commonly,for family reunions and the like” SR

The famous „El Bar de Elvis“ in Reliegos, Spain, on the way to Santiago de Compostela

“ It was at Reliegos that the Astorga – Bordeaux Roman road and the French Way crossed. By way of complete contrast,WP informs us of this: Bar Elvis, quite possibly the most famous bar on the whole Camino,is located in the main square. The owner is quite a character…”

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Rolandomio Travel

If you ever walk the Camino de Santiago, you should not miss a bar! This bar is definitely the strangest bar I’ve seen on the Camino. It reminds me of a movie, but I do not remember which one it was? The graffiti-covered Bar de Elvis in Reliegos comes after a long sweaty hike on the Meseta. I had a great time in this bar, crazy rock music and oldies, good food, fab tapas, the best “boccadillos”, excellent wine and of course a wonderful company. The Elvis Bar, the meeting place for tired pilgrims 🙂

Graffiti invited apparently…on the walls,not the boss!

“ From the moment you leave Reliegos the outline of Mansilla May be seen. This is encouraging.” SR Just over 6 KM remain. “ You enter Mansilla de las Mulas through one of the surviving gates of its old wall of adobe and boulders,which dates from the twelfth century.” SR

“ …it’s dense town walls – 3 metres thick in some places – enclosing the medieval centre….In the Middle Ages, Mansilla’s economy, in addition to pilgrim commerce, was as a mule market ( las Mulas ), which supplied the the region with these all-important animals for labour and transport “ RB

“ Today, the old town is full of picturesque plazas…pedestrian promenades and riverside paths along the Esla river” BB And if you fancy a dip “ There is a nice place for a swim in the river