León & Astorgas

First trip that I've made in a while. Found some decently priced bus tickets, made a schedule for a weekend, and booked a hostel, and away we were to León, capital city of the province by the same name. León is located in the northwest of Spain in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It's a province that's characterized by ancient Roman ruins and walls and by the mountains (los Picos de Europa) it shares with neighboring province to the north Asturias.

León the city is one of the highest capitals in Spain elevation-wise; and we decided to go there in the middle of winter. It was cold and a little rainy when we got there, so we made for the first monument we could, which was the Basilica of San Isidoro. The picture below is the patheon which holds the tombs of past kings of León. The Romantic paintings on the walls and ceilings were especially impressive, and they're supposed to be some of the best example of such work in all of Spain.


Walking, we were able to see most of the old part of the city, which is surrounded almost entirely by medieval walls. At some points near the walls you can see evidence of the even older Roman walls that were there before.

I went with my friends Julie (from Florida) and Danny (from Logrono, Spain).


Another of the most important points of interest in the city of León is the fantastic cathedral with its massive stained glass windows.





Here I am standing outside the great gothic cathedral of León at night.


The second day we were there we took a short bus trip to nearby Astorgas, another ancient Roman city with walls, another grand cathedral, a plaza mayor (main square) with a nice ayuntamiento (town hall), and a palace constructed by the famous Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi. Both Gaudi's palace and the cathedral are visible behind me and the wall in this picture.


Here we are in the plaza mayor. I tried to set a timer on my camera, and it was a little low, I guess.