Leon Cathedral

Named one of the most stunning cathedrals in Europe, it truely can take this title easily. 

It was built over the top of huge Roman baths built in the 1st century . There are ruins and walls still visible in places - along with the intricate flooring, perfectly preserved.

Leon Cathedral is a perfect example of the Gothic style of architecture. It was started in the 13th century and was finally completed in the 16th century. 

Of particular note and one which sent me mad..was the 2000 metres of medieval stained glass windows... How magnificent..

Medieval floor tiles.. How many pilgrims must have walked on these ?

Operation Boot Repair

Oh dear.. My boots are starting to wear thin. To think.. They have only done 420 km now.. And 120 km last year.. Its a bit shit.

They aren't cracked or have holes just yet, but I can feel they are getting thin under my toes (right in the middle) and the heels are wearing too.

I walked round Leon , following bum steers and bad directions on the look out for cobblers to see if they can replace the sole .All to no avail. 

I went into a huge department store and tried on some new boots, but am super nervous about new boots midway this trip. Having had little trouble with blusters, it would be a drag to get them now. ..  Oh and that they are two hundred Euros.. Might put a drag on our budget! 

So what does one do? Employ someAussie  ingenuity.. And good old duct tape .

I bought some contact glue and some leather insoles. I've glued the indould over where the boots are wearing thin ( on the inside) and dict taped a few layers over the thin patches on the outside. 

Lets see how long I can keep them going.

To Leon

It was a bit of a rude shock for the peeps to have to walking by 7.15 this morning. I've normally allowed mornings to be as stress free as I can - withing constraignts- but we had to be in Leon early in order to get beds tonight. I'd tried hotels, but with a big festival thinv happening, they were non existant. 

We got into Mansilles (6km) in record time. Beautiful day - still pretty chilly, but not enough to be dreadful.

We walked through the traditional gates - St James Gates and wandered through the town, before moving on to Leon.

I love how we are catching up with people from down the track all the time. Graham and Christain - the Aussie father and son duo are a fun pair we've been seeing ever since day 3. They are alot fitter than us and I'd actually thought we had seen the last of them a few days ago.  

We got lost.. Umm walked through Leon together to get to the Benadictine Nunnery and lined up for beds.

We spent the rest of yhe day wandering the streets, drinking hot chocolate and socialising with yet more folk we've bumped into.

Tomorrow we will visit the cathedral. Gorgeous.. No?

A pic of the bags lined up in our dorm