Kings of Leon

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Geo: 42.3409, -3.69973

A bad thing at the hostal - there's only one bathroom, which is a terrible for your bladder first thing in the morning! The hard, short beds also aren't that great to sleep on, either. Over to the bus station to pick up a ticket for the journey to Burgos, and over to a cheap little cafe I noticed yesterday for its cheap breakfast menu.

The cafe was cheap probably because of its bad location, basically in an alleyway, albeit a busy alleyway. Why can't breakfast in a back alley in Calgary be this good, with so much Spanish talent walking by?

Did some touring through the old town before having lunch, then I popped over to an internet cafe to look into some other bus schedules and accommodations. Back to the hostal to pick up my backpack, and it was off to the station. Really, there was no actual reason for me to visit Leon, other than it was a place in Spain I had never visited, and that it was convenient to pop over and see it.

It actually made me wonder if the group Kings of Leon, were in any way named after this city. I had this idea that perhaps one of the band members once visited Leon and was so inspired by the beautiful women, that they named the band after the city. Turned out that the band was named after an uncle named Leon, I think, so it's a far less romantic view than I had on their name.

Overall, Leon was fairly average as far as Spanish towns go - it had a few decent sights, and walking around during the evening was quite enjoyable. But there's little to draw me back here; perhaps an evening in the Barrio Humedo with friends would warrant a return, but probably nothing else. Well ... maybe I shouldn't say that, since Spanish women are always a draw, no matter what city they come from 😊 Leon was definitely good for that, so I'll call them the Queens of Leon!

The bus ride to Burgos was quite annoying - the armrest rolls backwards into a stowed position when not in use, which required only the slightest of pressure, meaning you constantly had to pull it forward because just resting your elbow on it would cause it to stow away. The A/C was also irritating, because it would keep cycling on and off in 3 second cycles. And let's not forget the mild toilet odor ... all these things made it difficult to sleep!

The bus arrived in Burgos slightly behind schedule, and to cool temperatures. Burgos seems to have a busy pedestrian zone; so far I am liking it here. I checked into the hostal and went back to the station to grab a schedule for tomorrow's buses to Santander. After, I wandered through Paseo de Espolon, a lovely pedestrian zone running along the river and lined with trees, which formed a bit of an arch to walk under.

Plaza Mayor was buzzing as it was the prime time for walking in Spain. I wanted paella and found it at Restaurant Casino - I was the only fool dumb enough to want to sit on the terrace on a chilly evening like this one, but the waiter told me in English "I am closed!" shortly after I sat down. It's really been the first English I've heard in a while, which has been a nice thing. The complete immersion in Spanish the past few days will do nothing but improve my grasp of the language.

I headed inside and grabbed a table, unwittingly picking a dirty and very sticky one. I wondered if it was my arms sticking to a dirty table, or if it was the table sticking to my dirty arms. This made me wonder if anything would stick to my dirty mind? A moment of panic ensued shortly after when I couldn't find the little book I carry with me to make notes throughout the day. All of my recent memories are in there! Luckily I found it lying on a table outside.

The inside waiter was much nicer than the brusque one I encountered out on the terrace. Too bad I only understood half of what he said to me! He must be related to the guide from this morning's tour of Leon's basilica. I wanted to try the Burgos cheese as dessert, but it wasn't available here.

After dinner, i took the usual walk - Burgos is a little dead at night, but nice for a stroll; I suppose this is a statement true in pretty much all of Spain, as it's walking here is always entertaining. On the way back to the hostal, I noticed that the library is open until 11 PM!!! Spaniards definitely keep later hours than most.

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Photos

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3 euros for cafe con leche, some fresh and slightly sour OJ, and a ham and tomato sandwich with a crisp, but slightly hard bun. The tomatoes were delicious.

a
Back to the cathedral, to see the interior - the stained glass windows were quite impressive. Funny how they are never as nice in the photos as they are in person.

b
Next up was the Basilica San Isidro, where I had a quick snack of a peach, which was juicier and riper than last night's. I gave one of the peaches to a homeless guy begging outside of the grocery store, and he was quite surprised, hoping for money and not expecting somebody to give him food.
I joined a Spanish tour for the basilica, which wasn't all that great. The problem was I had a terrible time with the guide's Spanish, and understood probably less than half of what he was saying. The basilica is probably most famous for its Romanesque frescoes.

c
A pleasant stroll back to the main pedestrian in the old town, past Jardines El Cid (El Cid gardens).

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Kids at play!

p
Then over to Plaza Mayor, to settle the kebab debate - given that it was lunch time, the kebab won out. It was only a matter of time before the almighty kebab once again proved victorious!

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With my stomach growling, I opted for one with double chicken and cheese. It was an extremely messy kebab, though I opted for a roll since I figured it would be less messy for such an overstuffed version. The problem was that it wasn't sealed at the bottom, so all the juices and sauce leaked all over the place. I probably used over a dozen of those crappy tiny little napkins that are popular in Europe, to clean up the mess.

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The kebab was decent, and nice with a glass of Mahou beer.

o
Cafe Gotica - I never ate here, but had to take a picture because it's a restaurant that actually has vegetarian options beyond a very crappy salad! This is probably the ONLY restaurant in ALL of Spain that offers it!

m
I can't imagine those shoes being all that comfortable, especially carrying all that weight that comes with such a large backpack.

s
I do NOT want to lose another backpack clip, so i'm going to start buckling up the belt when it's stored down below in bus.

e
Burgos - statue of El Cid, a legendary warrior from the region. They say that his wife actually strapped his dead body and sent him into battle, to inspire his troops and scare the enemy. I theorize that she was just too cheap to pay for the funeral.

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Paseo Espolon, a promenade along the river Arlanzon that is a picturesque spot for a walk.

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Through the promenade, to the gate to the old town.

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The too-cool entrance to the old town.

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Dusk shot of the gate.

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The cathedral.

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Dinner - a basket of bread was placed in front of me and it wasn't bad, but did have a bit of an odd flavour to it. The paella was only ok, as it didn't have much meat and the mussels were gritty, but sweet. The paella didn't have the crisp crust that forms on the pan, which is considered one of the best parts of the dish. The chicken pieces were pretty tasty.

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They must be running low on shrimp, because they only gave me half!

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Cathedral at night.

l
Cool fountain, where the water drips from the edges of the umbrella, simulating rainfail running off of it. Kind of haunting at night, don't you think?

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Ferrero gelato - decent.

w
Obviously, these dates must have some historic significance for Burgos. I took this picture so that I would remember to look up these dates when I get home. I'll probably forget to do it.

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Only 13 degrees tonight - positively frigid for Spain!