11 May 2008

Fantastic, a day off and we did not have to get up at 5 am to avoid the heat by the end of our trek. Our second day in Leon is a beautiful, sunny one. The cold winds of the previous day have died out though it is still unseasonably cold for this time of year, 16 C. After breakfast in a nice little cafe right by our Hostal, we went to see the San Marcos Cathedral part of which has been converted into a luxury hotel or Parador. The entire building has been renovated and is absolutely breathtaking. It is located in a big square, Plaza San Marcos and on such a beautiful day, it is filled with people. We were walking towards the church and we came face to face with our two friends, Stephanie and Amanda, whom we had not seen for some days now. They were just as happy as we were and so we spent the rest of the day together, wanderng through the town, taking pictures and stopping every now and then for wine, cerveza and tapas. It was a most pleasant afternoon. Later that day, we scoured the city looking for our Pizza place because they felt they would love a pizza and we were only too glad to go back. We finally found the place called Competencia. They were so thankful for our perseverance. After the pizza meal, we went for churros and a cup of dark liquid chocolate to dunk in. It was decadent and succulent but it was the Spanish way and who are we to complain. When in Spain do as the Spanish do. We never mentioned that the owners of our little Hostal had told us the day before that we would have to change room in the morning and, when we went to ask them about it this morning, they said it would not be necessary and that they would leave us with a key to the hotel because they were going out for a drive. It turns out we were the only people in that hotel all day until 10 o clock that night. What a funny feeling to walk in and out like we owned the place. When they returned, Bernie went to meet them and paid them since we would be leaving early the next morning. Buenas noches todos.