Day Forty Five: Astorga: Holed Up

May 11, 2017

.Dodie felt just well enough for a quick look at a supermarket and a turn around the cathedral, but we have now reinstalled her in bed. She is actually more in sync with Spanish custom that way. If she wakes up in the late afternoon, so will Spain, and then we may go have a look at the castle.

The supermarket was kind of a bust, because Dodie is too sick to want to buy any food. For my part, I have been eating double rations (mine and Dodie's) vout of our food bag, and for once even I am not claiming to be hungry.

We had been hoping to find envelopes to use in sending postcards home (cheaper to send to multiple grandkids in one envelope than to send individually stamped cards) at the supermarket, but no luck. Dodie impressed me by asking a stock clerk about envelopes. The clerk directed us to a tobacco shop. Sure enough, that is the place for envelopes. Go figure.

The cathedral was quite mundane, as cathedrals go. It did feature a chapel of Saint James, the pilgrim. I find it strange how people deal with Saint James. Yes, he came to Spain to preach. I guess he would have walked. But that does not make him a pilgrim. Only 1000 years later did others start walking to visit his remains, making them the pilgrims. Saint James is also characterized as the "moor slayer", but surely did not slay any. Others may later have done so in his name, I guess.

Our hotel. If you look closely - second row of windows from the top, second window from the right, it's our room. You can see my cheese in the "fridge" on the ledge.

This town features lots of chocolate shops. Here is a poor demo shot through a window.

A quite definitive shot of the cathedral/castle precinct

The flowers were really nice, but not all roses as we had come to expect

"Stolen" stained glass shot. Actually it looks pretty random, compared to the disciplined art of Leon glass.

Another look through our window, something to remember from our stay in this room

It could be foolish to look for fact and logic in mythology, but we often do it. For example, did you know that there are at least eight types of Kryptonite (not just green and red) and that it does not just harm Superman - Lex Luther got cancer from long term exposure, apparently.

One other mystery in the Astorga cathedral concerned photographs. I took one, and a man (church official?) accosted me, babbling in Spanish about no photographs. I said this had to be the only cathedral in Spain with such a rule. More Spanish. But the mystery - does the photo violate some theological principle, more than receiving the image of the building interior with one's eyes? Does the Pope know about this rule? Lacking these answers, I took one more (thinking the man was gone) but he must have been lurking in a corner.

As we left the building, another dozen camera toting tourists entered. The man will have a busy day.

More later ... maybe from the castle ... unless no photos, in which case they can keep their building and I will keep my admission fee

Dodie is still trying to build up strength, so I was delegated to go check out the Gaudi designed bishop's palace. The palace project began in 1887 when Gaudi was asked to take on the project. Like in most projects, there were budget and design issues, but Gaudi had the support of the bishop. When the bishop died in 1893, Gaudi quit. Probably there was enough of a Gaudi stamp on the design for this to still be called a Gaudi building. In general, I know little about Gaudi, except that his building are "gaudy" and very unique. There was a great book about him in the gift shop, so except for the limitations of weight, time, and cost I could actually be much better informed.

The interior of the palace features tall neo-gothic arches, in keeping wth the religious clients, I suppose. The arches, though, are very elegant and trimmed with tile in a very appealing way. Each room is extremely light, and full of stained glass. I think if you were to live there it would make you feel generally happy and optimistic. On the other hand, other than a throne room I could not detect any specific purpose for each space. That is, I did not spot a kitchen, bathrooms, man cave, or anything like that. There was a minimal effort to have some furniture in some rooms, but unlike some French chateaux, you could not get a feel for what the place was like when actually occupied.

I returned to our hotel room quite quickly after setting out for the palace, and Dodie wondered if it had been worth the 3.50 admission price. I think yes, since it definitely had lots more zip than the cathedral, and was my first chance to see anything by Gaudi.

Our next step is to get ready for a super early launch tomorrow morning. We need that to improve the chances of finding a bed further up the mountain. Every room that is bookable by phone or by booking.com is booked. So we will be trying to race walkers for those bunk beds!

There were two murals, on opposing walls. In this almost obligatory Mary scene there sure are a lot of other people! All explanations in the place were in Spanish, so I have no idea who these guys are, or who made the mural.

The floors are also part of the ambiance. They were this zig zag fir throughout.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0