Day 23, rest day in Leon

I woke feeling so much better than 24 hours earlier and enjoyed the luxury of sleeping until 8 and then dozing for another hour. I was sorry to say goodbye to my room in San Martin hostel which had been such a refuge when I felt ill but we had another hotel booked for the 2 nights I’m spending here with Fiona.
The new location is at the back of Leon’s magnificent Gothic cathedral. I met up with Rachel and Mike to visit it this morning - bumping into Fiona who had just arrived heroically from Mansilla as we went in. The cathedral is simple and wonderful and flooded with light from the most stunning stained glass. The side chapels were much less elaborate than at Burgos and included a rare depiction of a pregnant Mary. I absolutely loved it - both internally and externally it is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. Apparently it had suffered some baroque ‘improvements ‘ including a heavy dome and a gold altarpiece which obscured the stained glass. The later structural alterations had undermined the integrity of the building. In the 19th century it’s survival was in jeopardy but thankfully restoration work was successful and, among other things, the original altarpiece reinstated.
I met up with Fiona at the hotel where we both did some washing and dried it on our perfectly positioned sunny balcony. Very satisfying.
And then we visited the Gaudi museum, Casa Bottines. This was another great building with excellent information on display. The diminishing size of the windows on the upper storeys, for example, was apparently carefully calculated to ensure similar levels of light in all parts of the building. I’m struggling to describe the furniture which was quirky and fluid and somehow delicious.
This evening we went out to celebrate Nick’s 65th birthday. In fact there were two other pilgrims also celebrating birthdays in the same bar. After a deal of searching for a restaurant to suit all tastes we opted for an Italian in Plaza Mayor. Tomorrow our little group breaks up and, from now on, all the others will be a day or two ahead of us. Rachel and Mike are taking a bus 35kms along the route and will walk to Astorga from there. Nick and Paul will set off walking and reach Astorga the following day. We are staying in Leon one more night and pacing ourselves quite gently so may not be in sync with the others again though we hope to overlap in Santiago!Read more