LEON ON THE CAMINO We decided to take our second rest day on the Camino, which also gave us a chance to spend a day in Leon and to visit its incomparable cathedral. We had ended yesterday in the town of Mansilla de las Mulas (population 1900). We decided to take a cab into Leon (population 130,000), 18 kilometres down the road. Martha has been having muscle spasms in her back and we thought a break from carrying packs was in order. As well, the hike into the city follows and criss- crosses a busy road and we were pleased to avoid that. There is quite a lot of chatter on the web and in blogs about how one should (or not) complete the Camino. Some say it is inappropriate to take a bus or cab or ever to send luggage ahead. Those discussions are of little interest to us. So it was that I called a cab this morning and a guy named Juan told me we should wait at the Camino sign in the town square near our hotel and he would be there in 20 minutes. (The Camino symbol is a stylized sea shell). Juan was true to his word and soon we were in his taxi passing pilgrims, some of whom we recognized, bent under their packs and walking into central Leon through its suburbs. By late morning we were installed in a bare but clean room in a hostal. After a quick check of our email using the hostals Wi-Fi, we were ready to explore the city. The cathedral, built in the 13th century, and built more quickly than most, is one of the most famous in Europe. It is one of the purest examples of the Gothic style whose crossed arches allowed for more soaring structures with thinner walls and a lot more windows than were possible in the earlier thick-walled Romanesque churches. The preponderance of stained glass in this cathedral and its artistic quality are both stunning. For only a few Euros, we got to spend hours there using an informative audio guide (ie: self-guided). We also visited what we thought was going to be a church and cloister called San Marcos. We found that it has long ago been turned into a luxury hotel called Padador Hostal San Marcos. The concierge said that we could visit the old ground floor of the cloister but that the adjoining church was closed and that the remaining artifacts from both are contained in a city museum The cloister is impressive and contains good signage in both Spanish and English. The structure is old and it mirrors the tumultuous history of this region and of the country. For example, the arched cloister and its adjoining rooms have been used to house soldiers, as a barn for a horse stud farm, and by the dictator Francisco Franco as a prison and torture chamber. There were an estimated 30,000 prisoners and 3,000 of them died. We also walked along the Rio Bernesga which runs through the city. We were impressed by the parks, pathways and promenades and flower beds, as well as the numerous pedestrian bridges. Leon is really quite a lovely city. While walking in Leons streets and plazas, we encountered a number of pilgrims who we have met on the trail and in hostals and restaurants. Among them are a Californian Mexican- American couple named Cathy and Juan and Teri, their relative by marriage. They often walk and stay with a pony tailed Dutch guy named Ruel. All of us fear we may not see each other again. Tomorrow Martha and I are busing the equivalent of two days ahead (it takes all of 45 minutes) because we want to arrive in Santiago by October 3rd. But we plan to stay there for a few days so that we can visit with relatives of our son-in-law Salim. So we comforted our new friends with assurances that we will all meet again at journeys end. This is kind of a metaphor for life and all relationships, is it not?
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 22:07:38 +0000
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