Monday, January 26, 2009

León (lion) was more like a cordero (lamb).

Hola!
Saturday I visited León, Espana. León is located in the northern part of my province (a two-hour bus ride) and is sized around a little more than 100,000 people. It appeared to be more modern than Valladolid, and people were very, very welcoming! Our intent was just to roam the city & enjoy anything that looked interesting…we had the entire day!

Our first moments were spent strolling, peacefully along the Bernesga River. Finally able to breath fresh air was a contrast from the city! We stopped for a cup of café & made "plans" for the day.

We wondered towards the Plaza Mayor (city center) but were distracted by the beautiful Catedral de León. Beautiful! The ceilings & structure were a sight but the stain glass windows were the most impressive part of this church. (This was only one of few churches we visited throughout the day).



After the church, we passed by plenty of interesting buildings- like this one that looks like a castle, but, as we later found out, is a bank. Oops.

León has a grand procession of religious people (although their garb is almost identical with that of the KKK) during Semana Santa, or Holy Week. These seashells mark the path of the religious people during that time.

We also stopped for a quick “pick-me-up”…walking around the city really started to wear on us by late afternoon. I ordered a glass of orange juice- made from this machine! She just poured a dozen oranges in there and presto! 100% orange juice MMmmmm.



We then found the Musec which is a Modern Art Museum. We finally found it after a 40 minute trek only to find it closed until 5. Once we returned, we were informed it was closed due to changing exhibits. Haha. So we got creative ourselves outside of this very, very colorful building and made friends with a random traveler from Japan :)


It wasn't our lucky day, either, for viewing the Plaza Mayor. Once we finally found it (on the opposite side of town), we were greeted by an interesting culmination of smells from the prior market... so we got to view the remnants - awesome. Haha.

To end our night we went out for our first, true, Tapa experience. With the purchase of a beer, you’re entitled to any type of Tapa. Here’s a picture of the first round. So good! And only 2 Euro for all that :)


We boarded the bus, after a nice night-stroll down the river and headed back home. León was a very pleasant city, with nice people, great food, and enjoyable sights to see. It’s possible that I'll return at the end of Spring in order to visit the caves and other outdoorsy things León has to offer!

Besos!

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