This past weekend we took a car trip! Well, more like a car ride. My friend´s roommate is from a city called León which is in Castilla y León to the north. He was going home for the weekend and we got to hitch a ride, snag some free housing and have native guides for the city. It ended up being a pretty Spanish weekend with lots of eating and walking around. Its a good thing León is a relatively small city that is very walkable and with not too many important sites. I had been to León when I studied here, but that was three years a go and it was the first night we ever spent in Spain. Needless to say, I remember little more than staying in the amazing hotel/parador that we were put up in.
The main attractions in León are the Cathedral, San Isidoro (Church), and San Marcos (Monestary). Our first night we arrived in time to ¨tapear¨ which just means go to different places for a drink and a tapa. In León all the drinks you order, which include the non-alcoholic mosto, or grape juice are acompnaied by a tapa, or several. And the prices are preety good as well. Our first round came with cheese and bread and a plate of cured meats. All for the price of a small drink...like 1.50. Carlos got a sandwich the size of his forearm...from elbow to finger tips for 4.50. Coming from Madrid, we were in heaven.
In the morning we had breakfast facing the catheral and we poked in and saw the stained glass for which the catheral in famous. They are almost floor to ceiling and amazing. We also got tickets for a guided tour which allows you to go up to see the rosettes which are also famous. We learned about the restoration and the history and then we got to see the cloister. The whole cathedral is made of stone which is similar to sandstone so it has been slowly wearing away over the centuries. San Isidoro is an old Roman church and the main draw is the room with the Roman frescos on the ceiling. They are super old, and have never been restored and yet they maintain their same coloration. San Marcos is an old monestary that was taken over by the Paradors, the government run chain of luxury hotels. It has huge and really beautiful in the front.
León also has a river and we got to walk along the banks and enjoy the sun. The air in León is much nicer and clear than in Madrid and the people are aparently very proud of their blue blue sky. It is very blue blue.
In the afternoon we went and saw the inside of the Cathedral from a better point of view. We got to be inside right next to the main Rosetta and then we walked in through the Claustro. It was quite impressive to see the top of the Cathedral from right next to the stained glass. After our tour of the Cathedral we wandered around the city more and saw the old roman wall and the river and we walked past the Parador which was a converted monastary into a 5 star luxury hotel. This is also where we stayed the first night of my study abroad time. oh how times change when you have to pay for all your own things:)
Our last day in Leon we just wandered around some more and got ice cream and watched the amazing merry go round that had moving parts. The rocket ship actually went up and down and the ballon swayed back and forth and the titanic that went up and down. It was so cool. It looked really vintage, but it was actually from the 90's. Being in Leon was a nice little break from madrid.
No comments:
Post a Comment