Astorga y León

Today we took a bus to Astorga and León for the first Saturday excursion. They're both in Asturias and have really beautiful cathedrals that are open to the public. Astorga was my favorite by far. The first thing we went to was the "Museo de los caminos," which is actually a famous castle designed by Antoni Gaudí for the bishop presiding at the time. According to my travel guide, no subsequent bishops ever lived there because "it's bizarre appearance as well as phenomenal cost so horrified the diocese." It's too bad, because it's a beautiful building! It has vaulted ceilings and stained glass windows everywhere, so there's a lot of very nice natural light.

No pictures allowed inside this one! :(

We checked out the Catedral de Santa María next door. It's huge, and so detailed!

Intricate carvings on the whole exterior

me:door ratio

We of course had to stop by the chocolate museum.. :) It was fairly interesting, but very small. But I got to sample chocolate made from Peruvian cocoa beans! It's very different from typical store chocolate..
The last stop in Astorga was the old Roman plaza, where we found this park with an incredible view of the valley:

Spanish countryside :)

We arrived in León just as the weather started to get nippy, but the sun was still out for a while. We walked by the Roman wall that used to encircle the old city, and stopped for some lunch at a bar. It wasn't a terribly exciting city. There's not much to do, apart from some shopping and seeing the massive cathedral there. We stopped by when it opened at 4, and made it just in time to take a look around before they closed for a wedding. What a great wedding venue! It's very similar to the Toledo cathedral, but has one of the better displays of stained glass that I've seen so far.

Sorry for the blur. slow shutter + no tripod

Can't say that I'd bother going back to León a second time, but it's nice to say that I've seen it! Tomorrow: chillin at the Sunday market and maybe some sightseeing around town.