Day 19, Our Day Off!!! Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon!!!
We left for the bus station right after breakfast. After a few wrong buses, the right one turned up and we were in Leon in 20 mins! We walked to the Parador San Marcos hotel to check in and leave our backpack etc.
Then we headed out to the cathedral. On the way, stopped to buy a smaller backpack with a waist belt and it has made my life so much better. The cathedral was only a 15 minute walk away. We also stopped at a craft market. They were selling ceramic pottery and sculpture. They had some really lovely pieces. Right across from the market was the Gaudi building. It didn't look much like Gaudi's usual organic style. Other than a single turret, it looked more like a conventional building. Just outside the building, there's a bench with a sculpture of Gaudi sitting and sketching his plans. Lisa and I got pictures :-)
We finally headed to the cathedral. It is the cathedral of Santa Maria and is a beautiful Gothic cathedral. It was built over 2nd century Roman baths by Ordono II as a palace and then given to the church as a sign of gratitude to god for a victory in war. The church was in terrible shape until Ferdinand I of Leon took it upon himself to rebuild this. He transferred the remains of San Isidoro into this cathedral and rebuilt it upon the same structure. It was originally Romanesque but in the thirteenth century there were problems with its foundation etc. So King Alfonso X of Castile and Leon started working to rebuild it; this time in the Gothic style that you currently see. It has superb stained glass all around. The southern side gets the morning sun and has warm tones like reds and oranges and the north side doesn't get any sun at all and has cool tones like blues and greens. The designs are of flowers, plants, and saints. It's a massive cathedral. After a tour of the cathedral, we walked back to the hotel.
We had a lunch reservation for 1:30 but only made it back by 2. It was one of the best meals we've had so far. Roast goat cheese salad, lobster pasta, pasta with tomato sauce, and lamb. The dessert we got was really the best we've had so far - tiramisu with a cinnamon ice cream and yogurt with honey and fruit.
After lunch, we went up to our room for a 30 minute siesta. After we woke up, we went over the next day's walk and which route we would take etc. and then headed out to the cathedral again for a stamp on our passports. In the afternoon, they'd closed for lunch. We decided to stop at the church of San Isidoro on the way. Very serendipitously we walked in at the end of the regular mass just as they started the pilgrim blessing. It was very lovely with the traditional Spanish hymn of the Camino at the end. One of the priests was singing along with a parish member. Then we got a stamp on our passports and headed to the cathedral. There we were disappointed that they had locked up ten minutes before the closing time :-( We went to the main cathedral and they basically said tough luck.
Luckily, we discovered that there was an organ concert at 9 p.m. at the cathedral.
We stood in line and went in. The place was packed. The concert was lovely and went on until 10:30 when we walked out after the fourth encore piece that he played. We got back and I was too tired (lazy) to blog. All in all, our day off was worth every minute.
Then we headed out to the cathedral. On the way, stopped to buy a smaller backpack with a waist belt and it has made my life so much better. The cathedral was only a 15 minute walk away. We also stopped at a craft market. They were selling ceramic pottery and sculpture. They had some really lovely pieces. Right across from the market was the Gaudi building. It didn't look much like Gaudi's usual organic style. Other than a single turret, it looked more like a conventional building. Just outside the building, there's a bench with a sculpture of Gaudi sitting and sketching his plans. Lisa and I got pictures :-)
We finally headed to the cathedral. It is the cathedral of Santa Maria and is a beautiful Gothic cathedral. It was built over 2nd century Roman baths by Ordono II as a palace and then given to the church as a sign of gratitude to god for a victory in war. The church was in terrible shape until Ferdinand I of Leon took it upon himself to rebuild this. He transferred the remains of San Isidoro into this cathedral and rebuilt it upon the same structure. It was originally Romanesque but in the thirteenth century there were problems with its foundation etc. So King Alfonso X of Castile and Leon started working to rebuild it; this time in the Gothic style that you currently see. It has superb stained glass all around. The southern side gets the morning sun and has warm tones like reds and oranges and the north side doesn't get any sun at all and has cool tones like blues and greens. The designs are of flowers, plants, and saints. It's a massive cathedral. After a tour of the cathedral, we walked back to the hotel.
We had a lunch reservation for 1:30 but only made it back by 2. It was one of the best meals we've had so far. Roast goat cheese salad, lobster pasta, pasta with tomato sauce, and lamb. The dessert we got was really the best we've had so far - tiramisu with a cinnamon ice cream and yogurt with honey and fruit.
Why we probably aren't losing weight!
After lunch, we went up to our room for a 30 minute siesta. After we woke up, we went over the next day's walk and which route we would take etc. and then headed out to the cathedral again for a stamp on our passports. In the afternoon, they'd closed for lunch. We decided to stop at the church of San Isidoro on the way. Very serendipitously we walked in at the end of the regular mass just as they started the pilgrim blessing. It was very lovely with the traditional Spanish hymn of the Camino at the end. One of the priests was singing along with a parish member. Then we got a stamp on our passports and headed to the cathedral. There we were disappointed that they had locked up ten minutes before the closing time :-( We went to the main cathedral and they basically said tough luck.
Luckily, we discovered that there was an organ concert at 9 p.m. at the cathedral.
We stood in line and went in. The place was packed. The concert was lovely and went on until 10:30 when we walked out after the fourth encore piece that he played. We got back and I was too tired (lazy) to blog. All in all, our day off was worth every minute.
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