20 September 2022 – Leon

Miles driven today = 57

Total Miles to date = 1,237

It was a chilly 9 degrees outside when I got up to pop the kettle on this morning.  It's got up to the mid 20s this afternoon but all the locals are very much in their winter woolies now whereas our persistence with T shirts, shorts and sandals marks us out as obvious tourists.

It was also very misty when we left Riano and we couldn't see either end of the bridge over the lake when we drove across it and out of town.  But when we drove over the dam and dropped into the valley below the skies went a brilliant azure and have remained unbrokenly so for the rest of the day.

Google Maps gave us 2 options for getting ourselves to Leon.  The longer but less winding N625.  Or the somewhat more interesting looking and shorter N621.  Both would get us to our destination in the same amount of time so we chose the latter.  It swept along serpentine river valleys but nowhere near as gut wrenching as yesterday's experience and although the road surface rattled our fillings at times we were in Leon almost bang on midday.

Leon is a compact little city and the major attraction here is the architecture.  From the free aire where we are parked, it is barely a 15 minute walk to the Cathedral.  From the outside this is a beautifully restored gothic building.  We weren't fussed about going inside and it was shut for lunch anyway but it's acreage of stained glass is second only to Chartres.  We've already seen numero uno on this trip so why settle for second best.

Opposite the Cathedral is the Palacio Espiscopal.  

I think you were supposed to pay to enter but nobody was manning the ticket booth so I popped my head in and took a photo of its interesting interior and scarpered.

We took a stroll down Calle Ancha which is the central pedestrianised shopping street.

This was one of the side streets to Calle Ancha.  There are literally bars and restaurants on every corner.  My kinda town!

Casa de Botines is another of Antoni Gaudi's creations.

And next door to that is the Palacio de Los Guzmanes.

This is the old Theatre.

We took a stroll around a section of the city's old defensive wall.

The Plaza Mayor or main square.

Finally the Basilica de San Isidoro, which dates mainly from the mid 12th century.  It supposedly holds the bones of the Saint in a shrine and the remains of numerous Kings and Queens are entombed in an even earlier crypt which stands adjacent.

I'm pretty sure that's an abandoned stork's nest on top of that pillar.  We saw another on a telegraph pole on our way here.

As Leon is renowned for its hospitality and we are paying zip for our accommodation we are going to treat ourselves to a meal out tonight.  I just hope we don't starve to death first.  Most eateries round here don't open in the evening until 8pm so we've raided the cheese drawer to tide us over.

21 September 2022 - Astorga and Las Medulas