Day 23 - León

Our stay in León has coincided with the Festival de San Froilán, and Allan made a brief foray into the throngs of hundreds of thousands of visitors today to reach an open farmacia.

The weather has warmed up nicely today, making for a beautiful day for such a gathering in front of the cathedral, and the nearby streets and plazas.

According to a local news story, the banners he saw lined up in front of the cathedral were marched through the streets and ceremonially stowed away earlier this afternoon.

The donkey-drawn cart that Allan encountered was likely one of the provincial town’s entries into a competition, where the year’s “best” cart was to be selected this afternoon. They are laden with baked goods, cured meats, and traditional clothing and ribbons. After a two-year hiatus, the field was comprised of 37 carts: 16 drawn by bovines, 12 by donkeys, and 9 by horses.

Tomorrow we will finally leave León, taking a taxi 102 kilometers to Ponferrada, where we would have been without this unplanned stop.Read more