Last night with had dinner with the German contingent. We were looking at the menus at various restaurants when Lynn noticed someone furiously waving from inside. We went inside and the Germans were starting their first course, and telling us how good the food was. Supper was actually quite good and the company was excellent. The Germans said they are proud to be in the company of their fast Canadian friends.
The hotel is really nice, with air conditioning, a balcony, a fridge, and the best bathtub yet for soaking your hot, swollen, and sore feet (a wide ledge to sit on). We checked into the hotel in one building (which was actually a hotel with the proper name this time, not a bar) but stayed in another building with no hotel reception desk down the street. It was very quiet, charming, and we had a great sleep. We've finally gotten over worrying about bed bugs since our dinner with Chris!
Today we visited the Gothic Cathedral. This cathedral, built in the 13th century is a magnificent example of Gothic architecture. Built over a period of only 50 years, it features a 30 metre high vaulted ceiling and almost 1,800 square metres of stained glass, most 13th and some 16th century. It is patterned on the cathedral in Reims, France. The idea was to let the light of Christ shine in, which it does in abundance. Letting this light in actually compromises the structural integrity of the building and part of the nave collapsed in the 17th and 19th century. The cathedral is so beautiful that neither pictures nor text can do justice to it.
While we were visiting the Cathedral a fellow was tuning the organ in preparation for the Leon international organ festival. Wouldn't that be an event to attend!
We then walked around Leon. We walked along the lovely gardens along the river Bernesga, visited the garden of San Francisco park,
viewed the old town walls, built to protect the town when it had 5,000 residents, visited the beautiful Romanesque Basilica de San Isidoro, strolled through the 'Romantico' neighbourhood, and wandered around the 'Humedo', the city's old town.You could easily spend a week exploring Leon.
Leon has so many tourists walking around that the city looks much larger than it's population of 130,000.
Tomorrow is back to the Camino. We thought we had finished the mesa at Leon, but it turns out we will not be through it for another two days, until Friday the 13th of September. However, unlike our 'rest day' in Burgos, this time, just not wearing our hiking boots for a day was a good rest. We're sure we covered the 'average' 22 km today anyway.
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