Day 21 – Leon – rest day

My fears were justified. You put fifty men in one room and it’s not exactly going to be ” lullaby baby “. I have never heard such a cacophony of nocturnal noises. I will list them – snoring of every description , sighing , yawning , farting , groaning , scratching  coughing , sneezing , snorting , peeing and talking ( whilst asleep ). I lay there listening to all this and actually started to laugh as it was like something out of a cartoon. I stuffed the earplugs in until they were nearly meeting in the middle but it made not a jot of difference. I had been debating whether to take another rest day and this made my mind up.

The usual suspects were away by 6.30am but I stayed for breakfast. This usually consists of bread and jam with coffee. Sometimes you pay a couple of euros but in this case it was a ” Donativo ” situation. We were all out by 8.00am as usual and I noticed it was significantly cooler than it has been up to this point. I found a small hotel , booked a room and jumped into bed to catch up with some sleep.

I woke at Midday and had a stroll around Leon , taking in a few more of the sights. Like most of the towns/cities I’ve encountered on this trip there is a medieval centre with narrow streets , surrounded by modern development. I visited yet another ancient Romanesque church , the Basilica de San Isidoro. I noticed another sculpture of our friend Santiago Matamoros above the main door.  My guide book says several of ” The Kings of Leon ” are buried here , though the part of the museum that houses their graves was shut today , as is the case on a Sunday. I walked on to the Plaza San Marcos to view the ancient monastery dedicated to St Mark ( now a 5 star Parador Hotel ) . The walls were covered with various motifs with Pilgrim associations , including scallop shells. The guide book states that this is a fine example of Renaissance ” Plataresque ” architecture. Once again there was a representation of Santiago Matamoros along with a few more unhealthy looking Moors lying beneath him . I had a quick look inside the hotel and it did look spectacular. I wonder if they do special ” Peregrino ” rates ? .