León

A Home Depeot on the outskirts of Leon.


One of the stained glass windows in the Leon cathedral.


A Gaudi designed building in Leon.


The Festival of San Frolian in Leon.

It was a deliberately short walk of 12 miles into the large city of León today. But kind of ugly through the outskirts with it's industrial suburbs. I had a pension already in mind from the guidebook so I went there first. It is right on the edge of the old part of the city. I got a very nice room for 20 euros. After shower and a little lunch, it was off to the old quarter and the cathedral.

I was surprised how different the León cathedral is from the one in Burgos. The one in Burgos has a lot of Rennaisance and Baroque touches added later, but the León cathedral has kept more of the simplicity of the Gothic design. What sets it apart is the immense amount of stained glass. Due to the lighter, more open construction, there are much larger openings that allow for more stained glass.

The San Frolián festival started here today. The streets of the old city are packed with parades, vendors, and lots of people. Unfortunately, all the regular stores, except for the bars, are closed, so it may be tough to find groceries for tomorrow. And this festival is a week long here in León, so I will be walking on down the road tomorrow.

At least the predicted rain held off till this afternoon and so far it has been only occaisional light showers. I need to check the forecast, but hope this might be the worst of the weather for a while.

Later after dinner: It is interesting to keep running across other pilgrims after not seeing them for days, either figuring they are way ahead or way behind you. I saw several today in Leon, including a French Canadian and an Australian couple that I thought were far behind. Pls I also ran into Sean the Australian who was supposed to have been ahead by a day.