Day trip to Leon

Friday morning, Rebekah and I went into Sahagun to run a few errands before we left for a day trip to Leon, a town about an hour away from Moratinos. This was also the day that Daniel headed out to continue his journey along the Camino, so before we left for the day we said our goodbyes to him. Libby gave him a couple of the post cards which I'd bought in Barcelona so he could write messages to family and then she was going to mail them from Ohio when she got home.

Leon is one of the cities along the Camino, so we saw a number of pilgrims trekking by as we drove in Rebekah's Renault. Coming into the city we drove by a large fountain, and then found a parking spot not far from the Gothic cathedral that Leon boasts. It very much reminded me of Notre Dame in Paris, and I got some really great shots of it from the outside. You're not able to take pictures from the inside of the church, though the architectural and artistic workmanship inside was amazing. It only would have been nicer if the sun had come out so we could see the beautiful rosette stained glass windows lit up. The relics of St. Isidor are housed inside the church as well. We stopped in the tourism office and got some information about Leon, and then had a cafe con leche in a nearby bar.

Then we walked around town for a bit and ended up at an Italian restaurant in one of the plazas near the other sight we wanted to visit. We had a great lunch there – Libby had a cream of vegetable soup and ham and veal, Rebekah had a rice salad and pesto tortellini, and I had a mixed plate of sliced hams and sausages and a veal stew. We sat around and chatted through lunch and waited until the church across the plaza reopened. Inside we toured a room with dozens of frescoes depicting different religious occurrences and then moved out to the cloister area. I got some really amazing pictures of the carvings and architecture in the cloister. After this, one of the guides took us up a narrow winding stone stairway to show us into the library where tomes and hymnal books were kept, and the finally a show room where religious relics were showcased.

We visited a sportswear shop down the street so Libby could pick up a souvenir referee jersey for her boyfriend's father, and then we wandered through some side streets and alleyways in town. We found lots of neat little shops and cafes, and a great plaza. I took so many pictures in town, and many of them turned out fairly nice. Libby had a great digital camera, and I'd kind of like one for myself. It's a FujiFilm FinePix S5200. It takes great shots, and is very easy to use. (Wow, as if that doesn't sound like a blatant advertisement to my family!) Rebekah got a nice tablecloth from this store that supports the sale of good from third world countries, I got some tasty chocolate, and then from a “head shop” type store along the way I got a good pair of Thinsulate gloves for only three Euro! They smell like burlap and remind me of being in my grandpa's barn.

On the way home from Leon the sun started to come out just as it was going down, but made a nice display with the clouds. We also drove past a Toys'R'Us, and I was like “What the hell!?” I didn't realize they were an international store name. It was weird but funny and sort of comforting in a way. Another comfort was being able to get on the Internet once back in Sahagun. Rebekah knows the owner of a computer shop near the center of the city and he let us use two of his computers. He also has a wireless network that is free to access.

Back home we were treated to a traditional “poor man's” Belgian dinner cooked by Sebastien. It consisted of cooked apples and potatoes and hamburgers cooked in a ketchup, butter, and onion sauce. It doesn't sound very appetizing, but really it was quite good. I also learned that Belgians really do put mayonnaise on everything!