25 June mansilla de las mulas to León

Planned lazy day today. Bus at 7:45 to León, stopped just outside the bus station at a funky little cafe called .... For breakfast then onto the parador. We felt comfortable doing this as the trip is said to be a little monotonous, and even Brierly says its alright!

As it turns out the walk wasn't terrible, we were glad to put our spare time to good use, looked around the hotel which was initially built in the C12, sub sequentially used as hospital, barracks, prison and even a horse stub until 1969. During the Spanish civil war it's use as a prison has been well documented, many prisoners perished during this dark period.

 

We also saw the magnificent León cathedral, early gothic those of you who have an interest in these things.

Wandered through the museé outlining the history of this city. 

For lunch we did a tapas crawl, testing the wines of course and the Tapas found some excellent places

Dinner was organised by Ali, directed by the concierge. We met up with the American girls and wandered down to "Casa Rafa". We were after the local speciality roast lamb or suckling pig. What a meal, plata primera was

-octopus (though the big suckers tended to stick to your tongue)

-special potato ,like a potato pattie with ham

- Iberian Jamon (ham:beautiful)

-Mildly salted anchovies

-Tortilla (Spanish Fritata with potato)

By this time we were all a little full, then the main course came out- slow roasted baby goat (Galib you would have loved it!). We struggled through what we could but the need to lie down became nearly overwhelming. So struggle back to the Parador, and a nice bed with sheets. (Not to mention big towels, real showers and baths... So exciting! For those of you who have lived with a travel towel will understand)