Feast day in Leon

Today was our scheduled rest day and it turned out to be a holiday celebrating, I think, the patron saint of Leon. The company who we booked our trip with arranged for us to have a guided tour of the cathedral with a lady who spoke English. Alleluia ! She was amazing and so knowledgeable. The cathedral was built in the 13th century and only took 50 years to build which is amazing considering it took several centuries to build the one we visited in Burgos. Thirty years ago they started restoring the stained glass windows and they think it will be another twenty years before they finish. 

Our guides name was Maria de Camino and we were able to ask her all the questions we have been pondering. School here does not start until 10:00 am so that explains why children can be out so late in the evening. We asked her where the crowds were going every evening and she said they have no destination, they are just out walking and hoping to meet their friends. When we told her we ate our evening meal at 5 or 6 she could not believe that we could sleep so long on an empty stomach!

While I spent a few hours knitting Charlie went exploring and found a church with a pilgrim mass at 7:00 and we decided to go. The church was the Real Basilica San Isidoro. This church was very different from the Cathedral. The Cathedral was built in the Gothic style and the basilica was Romaneque. The mass was entirely in Spanish so did not understand a single word but since all masses follow a similar rhythm we knew when to sit and stand. After mass all the pilgrims were invited to the front for a special blessing. It was lovely and much more what I had been expecting on this journey. Maria told us that there was also a priest shortage here and that one priest might have to cover 5 or 6 churches. That may be why we have found so few unlocked churches.

Our rest days are over and tomorrow we start the walk towards Santiago again. I am praying for sunshine and happy feet!