We arrived in Leon late Friday, and as soon as we had lodging nailed down got going on our city chores. First on the list was new shoes. Ellen's have been on life support for a while. She wore holes in the inside of both heels (note duct tape), the soles are mostly smooth, and the uppers are fraying. Dan's are not as bad, but the soles are getting smooth, the cushioning is dead, and the uppers are wearing through. We located a few promising shops for sports shoes and went shopping. After a little searching we located a spiffy new pair of Salomon trail runners for Ellen. We resumed the hunt on Saturday, and found a similar pair for Dan. Because the rest of our Camino will be in Galicia, which is noted for wet weather (Spain's Oregon), both are Gore Tex.
We passed the 700 km mark on Friday's walk to Leon, but neglected to record it. We filled in the gap in Leon, in front of the pilgrim statue in the Plaza San Marcos.
Leon traces its origins back to Roman times. During the 10th century it grew to a small walled city (parts of the wall are still intact). The old quarter (inside the old walls) is a wonderful maze of little streets, and as is common in Spanish cities is a pedestrian-only zone.
Today (Sunday) there were big celebrations for Corpus Christi. Many groups were parading with statues, some of the groups were accompanied by large brass bands. It was a major party.
Between paraders and onlookers, the street was filled.
In the central courtyard of another old building a small medieval fair was going on.
In the afternoon we walked over to the river, and the adjacent old Convento San Marcos.
This tremendous structure has been a convent, monastery, government building, and was used as a prison and torture center during the Spanish Civil War. It is now a very elegant five-star hotel.
Tomorrow (Monday) we head north on another camino, the Ruta del Salvador, toward Oviedo.
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