Rest Day in Leon

October 29

Rest day in Leon!

Our smelly Spanish friends and Ken, an Irish fellow, partied till 5 am and came bouncing in and onto their top bunks, trying to be quiet but giggling. We did not try to be very quiet for them in the morning as we were getting out by 10 am. Nick would over crinkle bags and I would clunk my stuff around.  A little payback, but they had to get up too and were soon, packed and ready to walk by ten, looking a little worse for wear but in great enthusiastic spirits!

Nick decided he wanted to stay an extra night in the albergue as his hip was bothering him and he wanted to rest it. He and Petra were both allowed to stay another night. Kim decided she wanted a hotel room for a couple of days and I, for some strange reason, was drawn to stay closer to the cathedral,  in the Convento Santa Maria de Carbajalas, run by the community of Benedictine nuns. I wanted a different experience.

I got checked into my new bed as the others waited and then off we went to find Kim a hotel. We wandered the narrow streets that would go off in all directions. We came across several streets and squares that had transformed into markets: antiques, clothing, fruits & veggies. It was Saturday; a good day to walk around the city. We got some lunch at a large busy restaurant, and then agreed to meet at 6 pm at the Cathedral and go out for dinner.  
I then headed for the large department store,  El Corte Ingles, trying not to get lost along the way.  It is Spain’s only remaining department store chain and is the largest chain in Europe and fourth largest in the world. People were surprised I didn’t know of it which again indicated the differences between North America and Europe. I went in search of some warmer clothes as I was concerned that what I had was not going to be warm enough in the days and elevations to come. I ended up buying tights to go under my capris. They wouldn’t take up much room.  

I went back to the albergue for a nice afternoon nap, however, this albergue was more sparse than others. They did keep the men and women separated, which I prefered. The bunks had very thin mattresses on them with plywood underneath and made lots of creaking noises. They also provided no pillow, or no sheet to cover the mattress, or extra blanket. Wow..guess I had been spoiled.

I decided I would go to the Cathedral early to see it and take pictures as I knew Nick and Kim would not want to spend a lot of time in it. Not their thing! As I prepared to leave the albergue, I was outside in the courtyard and decided to drink a can of Coke I had been carrying in my bag. As soon as I opened it, it sprayed all over me. My first reaction and what immediately came out of my mouth. (Excuse me it I offend anyone) was. “Jesus Christ!” I instantly realized where I was and what I had said and whirled around to see if anyone had heard me. My thoughts were so loud I was almost speaking them. “Oh my Cheryl, you can’t be saying that, especially here. Bad girl!” No one was present so I wiped myself off and headed up the myriad of little streets to the cathedral.

The Leon Cathedral is a 13^th century gothic cathedral. It is huge with amazing stain glass and lots of it. I spent over an hour wandering around and taking pictures, but my pictures can’t capture it’s full grandeur. I sometimes wish I had a better camera. There were signs saying not to take pics but everyone did as long as you didn’t use a flash. I lit up two electronic candles for my mom and for Bob. Kind of cheesy though. It would be nicer if the chapels had real candles but they all had these fake candles with little lights in them on a timer. I can understand though, that the candles would be a fire hazard.


  I met Nick, Kim and Petra, who took a quick tour of the cathedral and then we all went out to find a pilgrim’s dinner. I had to be back with the nuns by 9:30 to attend an evening mass. I almost got locked out but a man saw me coming and let me back in. I said quick goodbyes and hugs, and we all hoped and seemed quite certain that we would meet again along the trail.

I missed the procession with the nuns and the mass but it was not compulsory to attend. I am kind of sorry I missed it because the nuns sing the mass. Some S. Korean fellows were playing guitar and singing in the eating area though.  I noticed Gabriel among them drinking wine and taking his turn on the guitar. Guess the nuns didn’t mind the wine drinking. Lights out at 10 pm. It was Saturday night, and my bed was by the window. I could hear people out on the streets till 5:30 in the morning!.Hey..don’t they know there are pilgrims trying to sleep!!