Sara let Evan sleep in a bit this morning, until 7:00. We shared a room with four other women, and they were sill sleeping in as well. Evan had a bad night with his persistent cough, so he spent 3 ½ ours downstairs on a hard bench, reading on his Nook, so that his cough would not keep others from their sleep.
Getting out around 8:00, we had an easy 6km walk to Mansilla de las Mulas. We found our breakfast stop there, walked up to the bridge and around the town. Then we found the bus station and took a ride directly to Leon, our next big city stop on the way. We decided to take a bus into the City because the walk was described as along major roads and sometimes not as safe as we might like.
It was still morning when we arrived in Leon. Walking through it, we saw a modern, vibrant city, and then we found our way into the “old town” section. We happened upon a “hop-on-hop-off” tram and took the tour. This is a great way to get your bearings on a town. Then we checked into our hotel – which is right in the center of the old town, quite near the big cathedral
After settling in, we took the tour of the cathedral, Santa Maria de Leon, and its museum. Again, impressive structures and beautiful religious artwork. We have often been bothered by the display of wealth in the cathedrals and churches, because we know these great cathedrals were built by the poor workers, and they house tremendous wealth, all given to and protected by the church. But we’ve been putting some of this into historical context. In these towns, the church, or the cathedral, was the cultural center. Even the poor, took great pride in their churches and were proud to think they helped to build that or helped to support their church. As we tour the buildings and hear the stories, we realize that Pamplona, Burgos, Logrono and Leon were all in competition, trying to make their cathedral more impressive than anyone else’s.
Then in the evening we walked around the city, glad to know that we had another whole day to explore it. It’s a big maze of narrow streets, big and small plazas or squares, with larger pedestrian friendly streets . People of all ages are out walking and visiting in a very family friendly environment.
And there are so many bars/cafes/restaurants. Again we are amazed at the outdoor cafe culture. And here’s a surprise: at the Tapas Bars in Leon, you can just order a drink, and they will always give you something to eat along with it: a small bowl of olives, or tapas of some sort. Google told us that one of the tapas bars was called “Jamon, Jamon.” We found it and ordered a couple of beers. The beer came along with a lovely plate of bread, cheese, and of course “jamon,” /ham.
We also saw other pilgrims there, so we joined the conversation. One young woman had just arrived in Leon to begin her walk tomorrow. We all became her “Camino moms and dads,” offering our best advice as she begins her walk.
Done with drinking and visiting, we went to search for ice cream and fruit. Found both, and sat down in the great plaza outside the cathedral to enjoy our ice cream. We noticed that people were entering the cathedral a little before 9:00, so we walked over to ask what was going on. It was an organ concert with renowned French organist, free to the public. So we entered, with just five minutes to spare, to hear an incredible concert, in this gorgeous cathedral, played on their huge pipe organ. The organist was French, a renowned master of the instrument named Olivier Latry. He played an original work and an improvisation, along with works by Bach and Mozart.
This was truly an unforgettable day.
