Rarr like a leon

Yet another church!
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Hola,

Despite being quite happy to spend the entirety of the rest of my trip in San Sebastian I fought on to Leon. As soon as I arrived in the middle of the desert I realised I should have gone with my first instincts! I was still bitter about my Camino trip being cancelled and this bitterness morphed into sadness and the urge to hug anyone who had a scallop shell attached to their backpack. Anyway as I always do; I decided to walk from the train station to my hotel. You would think I would have learnt after Paris (the approximately 3km walk with my stupidly big bag), or Mt St Michel (walking 2km out to Mt St Michel when the bus stopped right outside my hotel). But I decided to walk, without a map; because Spanish trainstations (unlike the tourist friendly, english speaking French ones do not have tourist information at them). So I wandered in the general direction of town and kept wandering, with the knowledge that my hotel was supposedly 10mins walk away from the cathedrals. So I figured that if I kept walking for 10minutes after the cathedral in the direction of the university I would miraculously arrive at my hotel (I might add here that so far this strategy has been quite successful - I have always found my hostel before nightfall, even if nightfall is at 9.30pm). Ok so I´m rambling now. Anyway I walked for a long time and then asked someone who had no idea either but spoke more espanol than me so he just kept asking people. Eventually I found myself even more in the desert on the outskirts of town (where my hotel was). And that was pretty much the end of that day. I was so shagged (not literally unfortunately) from the last night in San Seb and the early train that I basically fell into a coma until hunger forced me to go and get some breakfast.

Mullets, modern art and dogpoo with coffee

The funky modern art museum.
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The next day I wandered around Leon and saw yet another church. I´m really over churches. I know they´re amazing and usually have the best views in town but seriously, how many does one need to see? Anyway I was pretty bored with Leon and just happy to sit and get a coffee (which is fantastic in Spain, and they give you these little pastry things that although they look like dog poo, taste fantastic). (PS apparently they are called churros). Then on my table I found a pamphlet for the modern art museum in Leon, which looked really pretty (and it was free) so I decided to check that out. It was totally cool. There was some really trippy stuff there though; a room that you went into that kind of rotated so that then you had to go into another room that looked exactly the same and then it happened again and you go round and round and think you are going crazy and youºll never get out, I was almost going to leave some breadcrumbs to check that I hadnt been in the same room but then I finally got out.

Some of the funky modern art in the funky modern art museum.
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Leon was where I discovered the wonders of supermarket tortilla. It is just as good as the stuff you get in tapas bars. Infact maybe even better because you get an entire one for 1.75. My parents will probably now be worried that I'm only living on tortilla and will hence come home with anaemia and scurvy but don't worry I'm drinking lots of coffee too! Oh and eating heaps of nectarines and peaches, god they are good here.

Anyway that's about all there is to say about Leon. Oh except that here is where I have witnessed some of the worst haircuts I have ever seen in my life. I know Spain is a goldmine of various interpretations of the mullet but Leon was the worst. Perfectly good looking people completely deformed with random bits chopped out of their hair, funny little rabbi curls at the sides, and one single dreadlock rat tail with beads on it that hangs out at the back. I know this sounds very hippocritical as I myself was growing my on little mullet friend. But I got it cut off before this trip. Even so I maintain that my mohawk mullet was very cool.

Just to remind me exactly why I actually wanted to come to Leon in the first place.
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'til santiago.

much love,

cate xoxo