Camino Day 26: Leon to Villar de Mazarife

Weeks ago, in Puenta la Reina, we saw a huge nest on a chimney, home to a stork. We were thrilled. We took pictures. For half the evening, we watched the bird fly to and from the nest and her storklet. It was the first wild stork I'd ever seen. I did not intend to forget my first and, I figured, probably last stork sighting ever. 

I was wrong; not that I would forget it, but rather, it wouldn't be the last stork I saw. Apparently, in Spain, storks nest on church towers and belltowers.  Also manmade riverside stork perches, electrical towers, and cell towers-- but they seem to prefer churches. They build impossibly giant nests on these improbable perches, and hold court over tiny Spanish towns.

For me, storks are the stuff of storybooks, childhood myths, and fairytales. They're not real. They can't be. So it always seems like a bit of magic to see them roost in their giant nests atop old churches. Today was no exception. After walking more than 13 miles from Leon, we were greeted by their clacking beaks and snowy feathers from atop the 16th century church tower. In so many ways, the Camino is like living in the pages of a storybook-- storks and all.