After a less than underwhelming hotel breakfast, D2 had dried out scrambled egg and chocolate cake, it was on with boots and back pack, pick up the walking sticks and head off. Today only as far as the bus station, granted.

Apart from the breakfast, we really enjoyed our stay at Hotel Astur Plaza, although we did wonder why Kinkly had to be out of the hotel by midnight!

When we walked into the Plaza we found it was market day, the usual market fare found the world over. This young man was keen to sell us some bling

The bread looked and smelled amazing

And D2 was thrilled to find a van selling freshly made churros

The bus station is situated behind the Archbishop’s Palace which was designed by famous Spanish architect, Gaudi, so we decided to check it out. It was built in the late 19th Century and now houses a collection of religious paintings and sculptures, as well as a Camino collection. In the garden are three huge angels which were supposed to be a feature of the palace, but for some reason they never made it out of the garden

D2 and I have become quite knowledgeable about Christian saints, thanks to the miracle of Smart phones. The stories, and hence the paintings and statues are often quite gruesome and disturbing.
Santa Roche healed victims of the plague by laying on of hands until he became infected himself. He was reportedly healed by a dog who brought him bread and licked his wounds. He is always portrayed showing a wound on his leg.

The stories of female saints often involve a resistance to being given
away to a male of high standing whereupon she was tortured, given to a brothel and had body parts cut off or gouged out.

All in all, an interesting collection

We headed off to the bus station where we met up with my Canadian friend who was also taking the bus.
Many people from surrounding villages had come to Astorga for market day and were taking the bus home, their shopping trollies full of fresh fruit and veges ( and possibly bright purple bras and Angry Bird jocks)

The bus trip was very comfortable…….we could get used to this!
Once in Ponferrada we checked into our lodgings, Hostal Nirvana which featured Buddhas and incense.
D2’s phone has been a source of frustration for her for most of the trip with parts of the touch screen not working

So once McDonalds had been found

We headed off to the Orange store to see if she could buy a new phone, only to find it all locked and barred. ( even though it should have been open)

A couple of cocktails back at Nirvana, a mojito and a piña colada, surprisingly delicious and cheap at €4 each, helped get over the disappointment.

Pilgrim’s menu at a local caf was delicious

Tomorrow we are back on the Camino.