Today, we walked from Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon. After walking 26, 23, and 26 km the last three days, this walk of 20 km felt short. We also connected again with our friends Bill and Jo, and walked a fair part of the distance with them, chatting as we went.. That seemed to make the time pass more quickly.
Leon is a larger city (around 180,000, I think), and is full of beautiful, old buildings, and lots of history. And guess what we found when we arrived? A fiesta! People were dressed in traditional costume, and there was music, dancing, and parades through the streets. We went to the tourist information office to inquire about a place to stay, and the man there said it was lucky we didn´t arrive the day before, or everything would have been full.. He contacted a hostal for us, who said they had rooms available, so we checked it out and stayed there. We have a lovely view of some of the old buildings right from our window.
After settling in, we went in the later aternoon to see the Leon Cathedral. This one didn´t seem quite as big as the cathedral in Burgos, but still very large, and stunning in architecture and design. This particular cathedral is known for its stained glass, and has about 1900 square metres of it! A huge amount of glass.. All of the symbols and pictures in the glass have particular meanings, and the narration we heard through the portable device was very clear in explaining the history and meaning of the details in the building.
We also toured the museum next door to the cathedral, which has all sorts of sacred Spanish art and artifacts.. It is amazing to see icons and crucifixes and other art dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries.. It´s interesting to see what is different and similar between those and modern images..
We are taking a rest day tomorrow, and ready for it. We´ll spend more time touring and exploring the city, will run some errands, and will generally relax and prepare to start walking again..
More from me soon..
Blessings,
susan
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