If we had to choose a town to have a few day’s rest, Astorga is a pretty good choice. The albergue we stayed in the first night was quite noisy and we had to be out by 8:00am. Mostly albergues don’t like you to stay for more than one night, I think D1 and I were both wounded enough to plead our case, but no-one felt like staying there again after the lack of sleep.

Over breakfast we discussed our homeless plight in a cafe over the square from the hotel D2 and I had stayed previously, and she popped over to see if there was a room. Astorga had been pretty much booked out when we had looked earlier  but as luck would have it some folk had just booked out and there was one room available, plus we could book in within half an hour. D2 was stoked when her details were there from our last visit. 

 

After a rest D2 and I had chores to do while D1 rested her feet. I finally managed to sort out my Orange SIM card, courtesy of a lovely lady from a competing carrier who read all my SMSs and helped me with the recharge process.

Then to the trekking store to sort my footwear. I am now the proud owner of a pair of Keen trekking sandals which won’t rub in the places my foot was blistered/ bruised. Love them! Plus two pairs of socks that are right and left specific socks. They have padding in the common hot spots. Very happy with those purchases!

Did some laundry, met an English girl who has had tendinitis, sore throat, horrific blisters on both feet and been bitten by bed bugs……and she was still smiling and enthusiastic!

We had a picnic lunch in our room, a rest, then wandered  into the plaza for a beer and early tea, only to find there was no food available between 4:00 and. 7:00,apart from the hotel restaurant which was expensive plus had a waiter who made you feel he was doing us the most amazing favour by taking our order and delivering our drinks!

Today D2 and I were happy to see the local markets, remembering the delicious churros from the churro van.

Then coffee with a complimentary donut! Nothing like a healthy dose of fat and sugar for breakfast.

We made amends by buying some fruit for lunch, then wandered off to find the chocolate museum.

It looked very comprehensive and interesting, unfortunately it was all in Spanish apart from a film on chocolate making which had English sub-titles. D2 was relieved I managed to obey the signs and not touch the exhibits. Although the lady in charge spent most of the time outside having a very animated phone conversation, so we probably could have touched everything at will!

So another restful day. D1’s feet are improving, but very slowly. My feet are also much better but we have decided to have another rest day. The next three days are the reason D2 and I are doing this, it is the section we missed out on. (Click here for link to 2014 post) It is the high point, literally, of the Camino, an iron cross on the top of a mountain, so the three days is steep up and down. D1 will take a train to a town down the line and wait for us there.

A pilgrim is grateful. We are grateful that we met up with Camino friends from early days of the trek and shared dinner.

It wasn’t a great start his morning because we got lost leaving town, and even though it was a lovely morning when the sun came up, neither of us were feeling the love! 

7 kms is a long way to walk for your first coffee of the day, but despite the fog leaving town we felt much better. We stood for a moment at the junction where there Camino divided into two routes. Now, will we take the ‘bad route’ with no bars but a bit shorter, or the’good route’ with services along the way? We decided on the ‘good route’, we need those breaks!

With D1 still in León, D2 found someone to take her place!

We stopped along the way for Mother’s Day calls, and as we set off again, with rain threatening, a small blister that I had kept contained with blister pads made it’s presence felt in no uncertain terms.  I stopped and padded it some more, but it was still painful; I tried walking more on the top part of my foot, which made my little toe hurt!

We had a brief stop at a peregrinos oasis where there was lots of fresh fruit and other foods, free for a donation, even some mattresses to rest on.

The last 4 kms into Astorga were slow and painful, with frequent stops to rest my foot.

We stopped for refreshments with 3 km to go, D2 had gone ahead to find a loo, and I had a moment of déjà vu when I saw her sitting at a table outside a bar.

2014

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The sight of  peregrinos striding in to town only made it worse, just a few kms earlier I had been walking like that! And of course the worst thing of all, Astorga was the town I limped  into last time, up that hill I had been dreading for the past hour, oh yes I remembered it well,

the town I decided in the middle of the night  to take a bus  and miss the arduous climb to the Iron Cross. I had been looking forward to a very different entrance! Actually I was hoping for a fanfare!!

It was great to catch up with D1 who had caught a bus from León earlier in the day and found an albergue for us. As we chatted about the day over a beer, D1 jokingly said to me “Toughen up princess” at which D2 replied, “You wouldn’t have said that to her a couple of kms back when she was leaning against the stone wall, with that LOOK on her face! She was so wild she would have decked you!!”

A pilgrim is grateful. I am grateful for my one healthy foot and two healthy legs!!

Please note, rude word used in this post. 

Today I am going to start with a pilgrim is grateful. D2 and I were oh so so grateful that we left León today and not yesterday when we watched pilgrims trudging through the cold wind and rain on their way out of town. 

It was a long walk through the industrial area of León and suburbs of towns that seemed to flow into each other.

I remember this little pilgrim from last time, his little pool was full of rubbish last time which was unusual. D2 took a photo because my phone was off trying to conserve battery. “Oh, he has a dick on his face” she commented as she took the photo. While her matter of fact tone did make me laugh, the reason I mention it is because it is not common to see such adornments on the many statues along the way. Luckily it is not evident in this photo!

D2 was feeling miserable and stuffy with a bad cold, and was walking at a pace which even I could keep up with. Of course, this was also because she was on Mama watch. It was this section where I got temporarily separated from the Way and D2 last time, how I don’t know because it was basically walk in a straight line on the track along the side of the motorway. The story of that day is here

 

What a shame we weren’t going to be in this village at 9:00 this evening!

We talked about how she could maybe bring GD1 (my granddaughter,  4 months old) to do Camino in years to come. We have already noticed how many more pilgrims there are, and how much harder it is to get accommodation. How would it would change in say 18 years?  We could tell GD1 tales of the old days, when we had to sleep in bunk beds, and how bad the wifi was in some places.

I managed not to get lost and parts of the track were very pleasant. I think 20km days would be perfect for me. The last 4 kms of the 24km day were hard, the road flat, the church spire of the town ahead tantalisingly close. I seem to have told this story before.

We  arrived before the heavens opened and got the last room, a little attic room overlooking the chooks and vege garden.

Thank goodness we weren’t this group of pilgrims, soaking wet and no room in this inn!

 

Updated photos and story!

I have been to León a couple of times and was really looking forward to a our time here. Unfortun ately the weather had other ideas, most of our time here was cold and wet!

We were lucky enough to stay at the Parador San Marcos, a lovely hotel, a birthday present from my husband. Some may remember him as the Driver from our 2013 trip to France and Spain. It was very much appreciated, loved the buffet breakfasts!

The two hobblers went off to find medical attention for their feet while D2 and I walked around León trying to get our location circle on Maps to meet with the laundromat circle. We saw many pizza shops but it took two trips out in the cold to find the laundromat.

D1 finally saw a doctor, had an x-ray, had her ankle strapped by the student nurses and picked up her prescription of anti-inflammatories, all 66c worth!! She has a sprained foot has been advised to rest for 5-7 days, then to take her walking easy until she is back to full use.

We spent a very pleasant afternoon having my birthday lunch at an Italian restaurant, puttanesca spaghetti for me, a couple of bottles of vino tinto and great company.

Then spent the evening watching Hawaii 5.0 and NCIS LA on the only English speaking channel on TV at the hotel.

Today the weather was worse, D1 rested while D2 and I visited the Cathedral and worshipped at McDonalds, or something like that.

I wanted to find the bar that the became our local when the Driver and I visited León a few years ago, but the weather decided otherwise,

back to the hotel to watch re-runs of the Hawaii 5.0 we watched last night!

This evening we decided on take away pizza, I could find the laundromat ok, but not a sign of any of the pizza shops, so we had room service pizza instead!

Tomorrow the two hobblers will hang out together while D2 and I set off again. D1 will join us in Astorga in a couple of days.

A pilgrim is grateful. D1 is grateful she had her foot seen to and that there were no broken bones!