Cuenca, Part 2: It's a Long Way Down

The photos I've found just don't convey how scary high this town is. Will have to keep looking but #1 is our parador hotel, originally a 16th century convent and its attached church (now a modern art museum). #2 is the most famous hanging houses, which now host a restaurant (highly rated and closed both nights we were in Cuenca, unfortunately) and an abstract art museum. More on that art later.

We loved photo #3 as representative of our entire trip--it's 10 p.m. in this nice restaurant and the Stackler*Williams family is alone. Yep, it's far too early to dine in Spain so we can act as goofy and silly as we'd like. As I recall, I ate some sort of venison-chicken stew that was so rich that I got up several times that night to pound Tums. And there was some rabbit and wine. The rest is swallowed up by the fear I felt crossing the swaying pedestrian bridge back to our hotel. Especially when two motor scooters (two teenagers on each) crossed right after us in what was clearly a well-practice but super-dangerous display that made my stomach leap into my mouth.

The next day was gorgeous. We were surprised by this 12th-century cathedral, Our Lady of Grace, which was supposedly the first gothic church in all of Spain. We hadn't expected much but this church is serious--no photos or video at all are allowed, there is a very lengthy english-language audio that comes with the entrance fee, and there are multiple chapels. We all knew this was our last cathedral and it was interesting and all but somehow it just overwhelmed us... Clearly our trip was coming to an end.

Leon, Part 2: Felicidades!

Just behind that enormous red flower pot--Ed's only a few inches taller than it--we spotted the first of three wedding parties we witnessed in Leon. We think wedding #1 was more of a municipal service but everyone was brilliantly dressed for a Saturday late afternoon/early evening. By the time we made it to the cathedral we had seen all kinds of people in tuxes and long gowns. We couldn't get into the cathedral but we didn't really grasp why until they opened the doors and there was wedding party #2, getting their photos taken at the altar. This cathedral, which I mentioned in a post a while back as being the boldest in Europe for its floor-to-ceiling walls of stained glass... so much so that the walls have to be held up entirely by banks of flying buttresses. But by the time I could take photos of either the windows or the buttresses, we got caught up in wedding #3 and it really felt like we should leave again to give them some privacy. I'm pretty sure our family is in a number of their formal and informal photographs--oops--as we tried to escape out the doors of the cathedral.

As bride #3 exited her Bentley to go into the front of the cathedral, bride & groom #2 exited the side door where guests pelted them with confetti and set off firecrackers (roman candles?). Ed was just explaining to the kids how these particular fireworks were good at blowing off people's fingers, hands, or arms, when this priest came up and took a hold of Ben good-naturedly telling him in Spanish not to fool around with fireworks. I figured if you touch my kid without permission I'm taking a photo of you without permission. But he was benign after all and quite the joker (we think). A very exciting day for 3 families and what appeared to be the rest of the town invited to the soirees.

I took the photo of the empty streetside cafe because at other hours of the day, Leon was so empty and silent that it seemed like everyone was gone. Siesta is taken very seriously in Leon. Don't even try to get a bocadillo or a cafe con leche. Or go inside a church or museum. You are meant to be resting so get off the streets!