Liveliness

Tuesday, June 15th Puente Villarente, through Leon, to La Virgen del Camino
We are in Leon this morning and I will try to catch up with the last couple of days' postings later today or tomorrow, so the postings will be a little bit out of order for a couple of days. Meanwhile, I have found a wifi cafe, so I have posted pictures for June 6 - 12. It only allows for 5 pictures per posting and the 11th is giving me problems, but at least you'll be able to see a little of what we have been seeing this past week!

For June 15th:
Leon is a beautiful city. We took a bus from Puente Villarente into the city, as the guidebook suggested, to avoid the dangerous, congested areas leading into it. It is another of the places where the original Camino has been obliterated by development. Riding through the area was enough. We came into the city by the bull ring and through rather modern, non-descript neighborhoods. The bus station is next to the Rio Bernesga, which we crossed over on foot to head into the center city. On the way, we found a nice little cafe to have breakfast. The lady behind the counter was so nice, she even gave us churros (they're shaped like the ribbons we have for everything, such as breast cancer awareness, but they're fried and taste like those things you get at carnivals and fairs with powdered sugar dumped on them) and little shot glasses of freshed squeezed orange juice - gratis! A nice way to start the morning in a new city.

We wind our way through the streets as the buildings begin to get older. We've realized that Spain, at least in the regions we've been in, is nowhere near as concerned with style as is Italy or France. Fashion for men or women doesn't indicate it, and window displays, even in a larger city like Leon, are, for the most part not that interesting or well done either, though food windows are sometimes pretty good. Merchants tend to have the same philosophy as wig stores do in the South - see how many things you can possibly put in the window at one time, and it doesn't really matter if there is any rhyme or reason to how you do it.

The buildings in Leon are well-maintained. We learn that they are sprucing up for a major festival (St. Peter and St. Paul) the following week. City workers seem to be putting window boxes of flowers on every conceivable window and balcony along the calle mayor and plazas. It will look very pretty. There is a building here near City Hall designed by the architect, Gaudi, but perhaps it is an early work by him, for it is far tamer than his Sagrada Familia in Barcelona or the other more 'exploratory' work that I associate with him. There is also a lovely bronze model of the city that shows its development over the centuries. While studying the model, we meet three brothers from Holland, including Martin, pictured here, who are 'a bici' pilgrims and who have pedaled all the way from the Netherlands!





The Cathedral is open and we walk around in it. It seems dark to me, which is ironic because it is supposed to be one of the most open and light-filled because of having so much glass rather than stone. More than half of its exterior surface is glass, but this does not come across to me from being inside. It has more than 180 windows, including three large rose windows, but still, it doesn't seem "light." The curved apse, behind the altar area, has tier upon tier of stained glass, all supported by a series of flying buttresses on the exterior. It is not that large of a cathedral. Apparently, it copies the one in Rheims, France, which I have also been blessed to see, with its Chagall windows, but at 2/3 scale, and dates to the early 13th century. There is a big bronzed marker across the plaza from the cathedral that says "LEON" on one side (just in case you forgot where you were, or perhaps it is just for photo ops for tourists like us) and on the top it has the floor plans of the cathedral and the cloister (which we didn't get to see).

We wandered the side streets a little in Leon to get a flavor for the city. At one point, there was an excavation of a Roman wall, next to a medieval building, next to a 20th century building. Leon actually goes back to the 1st century AD as a Roman city and has quite a colorful history. The city still reflects that liveliness and color - and wealth, though much of it was decimated in the 14th century by the bubonic plague. {Reading after my return, I learn that one of Leon's most famous Jewish citizens, Moses ben Sem Tov de Leon, wrote or compiled in Leon the Zohar, the principal text of Jewish mysticism (kabbala).}




Leon's way of marking the Camino through it's streets is by little, yellow glass equilateral triangles embedded in the sidewalks. They lead us from the Cathedral Plaza and Calle Major to San Isidore. There is a service going on inside as we enter. As opposed to the Gothic style of the Cathedral, this church is very Romanesque, and renowned for its 12c. frescoes. We saw the sanctuary, but didn't get to see the murals for which it is famous. The church dates from the 11th century. There was a museum here also, but we only briefly stopped in the book and gift shop before continuing along the way.

The route out of town took us by San Marcos, which started out as a large and famous pilgrim hospice of the Knights Templar from the 12th century. Later it became a monastery - now it's a four star hotel! My, how time changes things. According to the guide book, it's also been a high school, a veterinary college, a cavalry barracks and a military warehouse. Well, just so long as it's being used. It's a gorgeous building with this lovely plaza in front. There's a pilgrim statue out front with the pilgrim having taken off his sandals to give his feet a break. I know the feeling.

We cross back over the Rio Bernesga and continue down the road. The afternoon begins to get a little warm and long as we wind through the suburbs surrounding Leon and climb hills past them in industrial and business areas. We are walking near three Germans, a young woman and two guys, that we first met way back in Larasoanna. As we are walking up a steep hill in a residential area, we come across these curious structures built into the hillside. At first, we wonder if people live in them (rather like trolls!) but we rule that out as unsanitary for lack of ventilation and light. We come to the conclusion that they are family bodegas - families get their grapes and make their own wines (or buy them) and store them in these underground cellars. Once we notice them, they're everywhere.

We continue on, it seems later than usual this day, to the little town of La Virgen del Camino, which has its own legend of the Virgin Mary appearing to a shepherd here. Mary tells him that a great church will be built here some day, and indeed, there is now a rather well known, very modern church (RC, of course) with very large statues of each of the apostles looking out over the surrounding countryside. The town is pretty non-descript otherwise, and the alburgue utilitarian but quite functional and comfortable, except for the French couple who insist on sharing the same bunk! Some alburgues enforce rules more strictly than others. There isn't much choice of anyplace to go for dinner, so we end up cooking something in the kitchen of the alburgue and having 'a quiet evening at home.'