May 19 – We slept in this morning and caught up on the news.  Can’t believe what’s going on back home.  Time for some sightseeing!  

Zamora’s cathedral, Santa Iglesia Catedral de Zamora, is Romanesque – sort of square and blocky – with a museum inside.

Pretty Madonnas:

Pretty Mary with a very odd looking baby Jesus and his cousin John:

Another odd baby:

Speaking of odd, this is Jesus receiving comfort from an angel while he prays in Gethsemane:

I’m forming a hypothesis that just because it is in a museum, it is not necessarily great art!  Beauty is in the eye…

Images of St. James:

There is a huge fresco of St. Christopher that is the first thing you see when you enter the sanctuary.  Lookng at St. Christopher was thought to guarantee you would not die today.  You’re welcome!

Next door to the cathedral is an old castle / fort that looks over the Rio Duero.

From the ramparts, you can see over the city:

 A good view of the storks in the bell tower:

We enjoyed a menu del dia of lentil stew with spicy sausage, and a roast chicken leg, with nata (custard with cinnamon) for dessert.  A poor man walked among the tables, trying to sell little packets of tissue for spare change.  The lady at the next table called the waitress over, handed her 10 euro and told her to serve the beggar a meal.  Nice person of Spain!  We encounter so many poor people here.  What do you do when a beggar approaches you?

After our meal, we wandered back to our room for siesta.  The busy bustling shopping streets are empty and pin-drop quiet at three in the afternoon, as all the stores are closed.  

Back on the road in the morning!