My Adventures Walking the Camino de Santiago
St Vincent de Paul
Location:Leon,Spain
Today was a rest day I Leon. I managed to sleep for 9 hours straight which is awesome. Staying at the AC Marriott, nice. Across the street is the first department store that I have seen in Spain. From a super mercado in the basement to just about anything you can imagine. I really like this little area.
I had a nice breakfast (desayuno) in the hotel. Spanish style pan, tortilla, and zumo naranja. The zumo naranja (orange juice) is amazing. Many bars have this machine, you order a zumo naranja and they drop 3 or 4 oranges into the machine, out comes fresh squeezed zumo! It is so good.
Then I walked (It would not be a day in Spain without walking a bit…) walked up to San Marco square and went to Mass. The square is beautiful.
See the next post for all of the pictures…
I walked backwards along the camino hoping to see some friends which I did. Most were walking to the next town, Virgin del Camino. I will catch up tomorrow, but today is a good rest day.
I found the cathedral of Leon. What a beautiful cathedral. Took an audio tour it was amazing.
So the coolest thing about the cathedral are all of the stained glass windows. Seems like almost the entire top of the structure is stained glass. It was built beginning in 1253 and took only about 50 years. The cathedral faces East so the morning light come through the big rosette above the alter. As the day goes along the windows on the right side of the church are illuminated. They portray the New Testament while the windows on the left side never get direct sunlight and portray the Old Testament. I thought that was really cool.
I love the European way. The streets are packed with friends and families strolling along just enjoying the day. Around 1 or so they will begin to find a nice bar for a drink and some tapas and then between 2 and 4 lunch. Ten a little more strolling and a late dinner. Awesome.
After the cathedral tour I wandered along and just enjoyed the day. I came upon a medieval square still paved with the original stones. Had a nice lunch, potatoes, pimentos, pork all below 2 sunny side up eggs, and a cervesa to wash it all down. Yummy!
Now I am just relaxing watching a replay of the final round of the masters. Nice!
Location:Calle de Velázquez,Leon,Spain
Today was a tough walk. Mentally I just felt a little fuzzy. I walked 28k.
The storks in Spain amaze me. You can see 3 nests on top of the church spire.