
It's not the VI Legion that has a street named after in León. It's actually VII - Gemina, created by Galba in 69 AD. They decided to create a permanent settlement around what is now Leòn, which name is derived from Latin Castra Legionis. {"type" : "www", "url" : "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le%C3%B3n,_Spain", "title" : "León, Spain - Wikipedia", "date" : "20 September 2020"}
Centro de Interpretación del León Romano
One day I realised that they had a free museum about the Romans and the history of the city. It was Friday after work and of course I could not pass the opportunity to go. I usually don't go to museums or art galleries. There are two reasons for that. First is that art is so subjective that I do not enjoy spending 10 minutes staring at a painting of few squares and breathe heavily just because somebody would pay thousands for it. I do like going to exhibition museum but it has to be about a subject that I am at least heavily interested in.
Second reason is also time. If there is a museum I might like, I can spend there hours, if not a whole day. I remember Jewish Museum in Amsterdam. Not only it was an amazing place to learn a lot about the history and religion but they also had a special photoraph exhibition of an artist who hasn't shown his work until recently (that was 2014). Basically they had to tell me to get out because they were closing. I would like to visit all the museums I am interested in but I wouldn't have time for anything else. I like reading all captions, taking it all in, but sometimes it's just not feasible.


Walking around a city that has a Roman settlement in its core is always exciting for me. Thinking how everything must have looked like 2000 years ago is like a brain teaser for your imagination, especially if you then can compare it with historical evidence. I only had 2 hours there because they were closing and the next day was the best day of each visit: the hike day!
First 30km hike in my life
The previous two hikes weren't easy but I wanted to keep testing myself and see how far, literally and metaphorically, I can go. I bought a proper activity tracker that comes with GPS, which is handy if you lose your 4G signal, your phone dies, or if you want to survive only by looking at bearing and measuring distance. From that point onward I was able to get some stats about my hikes and who doesn't like a lot of data generated by oneself! I certainly do.I developed a little framework in my head when it comes to my hike. The aim was always 40km, which I didn't get, but I am not that obsessed with numbers to beat myself over it. I decided going out of the city for maximum 10-12km is a good rule so that then I can walk another 5-8km across and come back. I tested this theory in León and it worked really well.
There weren't any hills nearby, hence I opted for walking few kilometers East and then turn North by walking on top of a plateau for about 10km and get some good views at the same time. It was barely 100m prominence but still better than nothing!


Most importantly, I was saved! My lack of preparation didn't kick me in the ass too badly, for which I was grateful. I stopped for some time to take mental notes about where I made the mistakes. Calculations flowed through my head in regards to the temperature, how much water I took, in what containers, how many kilometres I walked, and at what pace. Every hike is a lesson after all :)
The last 10-15km weren't that great. I looked for some nature on the other side of the city, which meant I had to go through some towns, concrete roads as usual, until I found a hill with a tiny forest, where I could take a proper rest, listening only to the sound of the trees, and looking at the city.

At first, I didn't think much of León. I only booked my hotel for 4 days, thinking it would be just a quick stop between more interesting cities but it surprised me positively. The Roman history is so rich in Spain that if my Spanish were better, I would probably spend days in different museums; something I don't really do unless it's something I am really into and then I have to read every note, every sign, every poster, and every label :)
While looking at the armor of the Roman soldiers, it reminded me of the times I spent in York. I was invited by my friend Neil to be part of his archery stand at Apollo Festival and I got to wear proper replica armour for at least 6 hours if I'm not mistaken. How fun it was!
