The day dawned depressingly overcast and chilly. We faffed around for ages before finally seizing the day after eating a pastry with gristly bits in and then having a restorative coffee in the hotel. We looked over the map and decided to head for leon where richard and paul had been on a previous trip, because it's relatively big so there should be things to do if we get rained out, and planned our route carefully to avoid any very high passes in the mountains that might be even colder.
The first pic is of me kitted out in my many many layers of thermals + long sleeved t shirt + hoody + fleece + bike jacket and trousers + waterproof jacket and trousers. I may look like the michelin man but wasn't planning to get caught out by bad weather, oh no not I. It started raining pretty much straight away and we got stuck in all the traffic leaving santander for the easter break too, but the rain stopped after a bit and although it was still only about 12C things weren't too unpleasant, plus on the bike we could sneak through the lanes of traffic.
We headed up into the picos de europa (mountain range to west of Santander) where there was some amazing scenery, even in the rain and low cloud. The road started climbing and it began to get colder as we went up into the mountains, and after a while cars appeared coming the other way with snow on the front and we started wondering whether some freak weather had come in and if we'd be able to get through on the bike. We were at about 600m so didn't think we had much higher to climb, and there wasn't any snow on the ground at all (although worryingly we did pass a snow plough). The road continued to climb, the temperature fell and fell and eventually we passed the snow line and some little balls of snow began to fall. We finally reached the pass at 1589m, by which time it was below freezing and there was snow covering everything apart from the road (see pic).
Although the road descended after that, the temperature got stuck at around 5C. We wanted to stop for a warming snack or a coffee, but all the villages we passed through were like ghost towns, with not a soul to be seen, and everything in darkness or shuttered up. Where was everyone?!
When we finally arrived in leon, we were cold and tired and booked in at pretty much the first hotel we came to, although it was a little bit out of our price bracket (the bike's accommodation was cheaper though). When we went up we found that we had somehow been given a suite for our double room price which suddenly made our seem much better value. I ran a hot bath and got straight in and after a period of tingling and itching was relieved to be able to feel my fingers and toes again.
The lady on reception almost laughed when we asked whether the town was going to be very quiet. Apparently no, it was going to be the biggest party of the year, lasting all night and getting very rowdy. And when we went out, clearly all the local populace had made its way to leon for a bit of semana santa madness. We began by squeezing ourselves into a succession of packed bars, drinking glasses of rioja and eating some of the tastiest ever hams and sausages (see pic). A lot of brown food as richard would say - and it's true, we haven't seen fruit or veg on offer since we left the boat.
At around 10 pm a leonese, late night version of yesterday's parade made its way through the 'wet quarter' (see 3 pics). More pointy hats, more music, more covered faces and effigies. The people in masks and hats look scary to me, but there are spanish kids in the processions and watching, and it clearly doesn't bother them at all.
In the last pic you can see how big a deal the semana santa is here - we were in a bar which was decorated in nothing but religious posters. All a bit surreal but very interesting and we rolled home contentedly to our suite.
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