Sahagun and Beyond: Fast Forward to Leon

July 10 - 14.  The route between Sahagun and Leon, passing through El Burgo Ranero and Mansilla de las Mulas, looked long and boring.  It was senda pretty much all the way, running for the most part beside some major highways (we were scheduled on an alternative route because of the location of our hotel in El Burgo Ranero) and passing through some grubby towns and industrial areas.  So, we decided to change our reservations and fast forward to Leon.  This was a great decision as we met up with several of our Camino friends (Jennie and Julia, Carsten and his son Kieran, and a few others).  We had a lovely (this time for real) farewell dinner with Carsten and Jennie and Julia.  We may see Jennie in Santiago but Carsten and Kieran will be back in Germany by the time we get there on the 27th of July.  We are not sure about Julia.  It’s funny how we get attached to people we have never seen before and probably will never see again ...

Leon is a great surprise.  It is a really lovely city with lots of interesting ambiance in the old town.  It has a Visigoth, a Moor and a Roman history, with lots of Roman ruins.  The cathedral is one of the loveliest I have ever seen - not vast and sprawling like the one in Burgos, but decidedly more impressive (for me!).  Its straight, strong structure and its almost austere interior somehow accentuate the beauty of its magnificent stained glass windows. 

We have discovered that to get a really good meal here in northern Spain we must go out rather late.  The peregrino menus that are offered early continue to be mediocre at best.  After 9pm, however, the menus change as the local Spanish people begin to fill the restaurants for dinner.  Here in Leon, though, we have found a lovely Italian restaurant called Rocco (recommended by a receptionist from one of the hotels) that serves great food at any time of the day!

We have also discovered that there is a running of the bulls in Leon during the summer festivals in June!

Now I am off to find the art gallery and will post again in a few days.

Later same day.  I went to the art gallery - which is more of a history gallery than a traditional art gallery.  It tells the story of Leon in beautiful stylised pictures and texts - beginning in the year 711.  The gallery building itself is exquisite.  It is a wonderful mixture of old and new.  The old city wall (the oldest in Spain, I have since learned) forms the basis of a new glass structure, which is light and airy and intermingled with some older stone structures.  This produces a very interesting and aesthetically pleasing environment.

I am liking this city more and more.  The Spanish poet, Victoriano Cremer, has written: 

“Here in Leon, what matters is not so much what people do or achieve as what they plan or dream.”

I rather like this!