Day 29 - Hospital de Orbigo - Astorga - 30 September, 2014

Time Departed: 8.20 am

Time Arrived: 1.45 pm

Distance: 17 kms

Cumulative Distance: 525 kms

Percentage Complete: 65%

Weather: Mostly cloudy

Accommodation: Hotel Astur Plaza

Feelings - Henk - Good, Neil - Good, Di - Good

We have now been on the Camino for four weeks with only two weeks to go until we reach Santiago de Compostela. 

Breakfast was in the cafe which serviced regular patrons, those getting petrol and those staying at the hotel. Neil's idea of a "truckies breakfast" didn't materialise as it was a battle just to get served. Having a meagre breakfast of toast, coffee and juice we were pleased to be on our way. After completing 29 kms yesterday we felt that 17 kms was a "walk in the park". We kept a relaxed pace stopping frequently to see things and to take photos. It was a cool, cloudy morning and ideal for walking. The scenery has changed quite a bit since Leon and is far more varied and interesting. We took the alternate path again which was away from noisy roads. 

It seemed to be a day of quirky things. It wasn't long before we reached Villares de Orbigo with its albergue's building painted with peregrinos' washing. 

It also had a tribute in the main street to the peregrinos. Just as we were taking a photo Belgium Kristin arrived so we took a photo of the group. 

We contemplated having a coffee but decided to move onto Santibanez de Valdeiglesia where we found a popular and very warm cafe at the local albergue. It was about ten o'clock and we needed to eat to give us energy.

On leaving Santibanez de Valdeiglesia we walked through a farm, past an old wagon and to what is described in Brierley's guidebook as "...one of the most serene and naturally beautiful paths of the camino for a glorious 8.0 kms." 

There were numerous minor hill climbs and the landscape was dotted with woods. We came across an unofficial Camino tribute which was an unattractive dummy dressed as a peregrino which had numerous tokens left on it by passing walkers. 

For the first time we have seen farmers picking the grapes in the fields. 

When we reached the plateau and in the middle of nowhere we came upon an alternate-style stop where a range of drinks and food was offered and payment was by a donation. The French lady and her dog were there. We haven't seen them for six days and they were obviously staying in this remote area. 

Before descending down to San Justo del la Vega stood a large stone cross, Cruceiro Santo Toribio. This commemorates the 5th century Bishop Toribio of Astorga who supposedly fell to his knees in a final farewell after being banished from Astorga. 

Here we met an older woman from Coffs Harbour and a cyclist from Cairns. We all took turns taking photos of each other. There was also an elderly North Carolina woman who has had knee problems and is wearing a brace. She says that her walking group call ibuprofen Vitamin I! 

As we descended down to San Justo del la vega we had wonderful views over Astorga, its impressive cathedral and the mountains beyond. 

When we arrived at our hotel on the Plaza Mayor there was a huge market taking place. Astorga has a population of 12 000 and quite a number plazas dotted around the old city. 

We visited the cathedral and the episcopal palace which was designed by Gaudi. 

We couldn't resist buying Astorga chocolate. Belgium Kristin has told us it won't be as good as Belgium chocolate! 

Our hotel is located on Plaza Mayor and we have a lovely view over the plaza and the town hall which has the famous Maragatos clock from the eighteenth century. 

We sat outside in the plaza and had a very tasty dinner. It was a pleasant evening after a varied day. 

Day 28 - Leon - Hospital de Orbigo - 29 September, 2014

Time Departed: 7.30am

Time Arrived: 2.30pm

Distance: 7 kms via taxi, 29 kms walking

Cumulative Distance: 508 kms

Percentage Complete: 63%

Weather: Cool then sunny and warm

Accommodation: Hotel El Paso Honroso 

Feelings: Henk - Ready, Neil - Eager, Di - Keen

We had an early start as this was to be our longest walking day on the Camino so far. The hotel breakfast started at eight o'clock which was far too late for us but thankfully they made us a picnic breakfast packed tidily in a paper bag that we picked up from the reception. As recommended by our guidebook most peregrinos catch a bus to La Virgen del Camino to recommence the walk but we decided to order a taxi which arrived at 7.00am. The seven kilometres to La Virgen del Camino seemed such a long way and today we had to walk 29 kms. It was still very dark and quite chilly when we arrived at La Virgen del Camino and we sat on park benches eating some of our breakfast.

The path was initially easy to find as there were street lights but once we turned off onto a dirt track it was dark. Thankfully, a retired Belgium woman, Kristen, was waiting on the path as she wasn't certain which way to go. She wore a very bright head-light that stood out like a lighthouse and we walked alongside her and walked in her glow. Henk's GPS showed the way as we couldn't see the Camino signs. It was good to realise that we could help each other. 

Dawn came at 8.00am and the sun rose at 8.15am. It was a lovely, peaceful morning with heavy dew and it was good to know that we had left the Meseta behind. 

Everything was greener, the track was softer underfoot and we are back walking alongside farms of corn, sunflowers and turnips. 

We walked through a number of small villages during the day. At nine thirty we veered slightly off the Camino to Chozas de Abajo to find a cafe for coffee. finish our breakfast and have our first break. The cafe was open but the small town wasn't! At this stage we had covered nearly ten kilometres and we were pleased with our progress.

Most of the walk was alongside kilometres of a straight, minor road. 

The varied scenery made the difference from the past days of walking. At noon we found a concrete well beside a cornfield and sat on its edge having lunch and a break. We had a quick break at the albergue, Santa Lucia at Villavante. Neil continued his quest of finding the perfect Espanol Tortilla. When we arrived at our hotel we were pleased with our walking time and the condition we were in. The heat is now gone and we can feel that autumn has arrived. 

Our hotel is a combination of a petrol station, cafe, restaurant and hotel. The rooms are spacious. Neil is expecting a "Truckies' Breakfast"! 

After showering and resting we ventured out to see the town and the impressive  Puenta de Orbigo which is one of the longest and best preserved medieval bridges in Spain and dates back to the thirteenth century. 

As we walked across the bridge we came upon three women we met at breakfast at Najera on Day 12. We had only commented that we hadn't seen anyone from the earlier weeks. It was good to see them. One is a Sydney-sider and the other two are Canadian and are about my age. We ended up having dinner with them and had an enjoyable evening. 

Day 27 - Leon - 28 September, 2014

Rest Day.

Feelings: Henk - Relaxed, Neil - Relaxed, Di - Relaxed

We are feeling so lucky. Before breakfast we went to San Isodoro Church, a Romanesque church, for the 7.30 am service. It was a pilgrims' mass and there were only six of us. The priest was lovely and spoke very slow Spanish so we were able to pick up some of what he said. We were given a special blessing at the end of the service. 

After a slow breakfast we spent part of the morning visiting Leon Cathedral and then got involved in the activities of the San Froilan Festival which is held in the old city. San Froilan is the Patron Saint of the City. 

Leon Cathedral is very impressive with its beautiful stained glass windows. The audio guide was excellent in explaining the history of gothic architecture as well as the building of the cathedral and its subsequent restoration in the 1800's. It's hard to believe something built in the late 1300's is still standing and in such good condition. 

When we emerged from the cathedral the festivities were beginning. Throughout the inner city there were processions, formal celebrations with dignitaries, folk dancing, traditional bands and singing. It was being televised. The streets were very crowded with many dressed in either traditional Spanish or medieval costumes. They were colourful and spectacular. 

The highlight was at lunch time with the flag carrying procession with each region around Leon representing their district.  We estimated that there must have been more than 100 groups parading through the old town. Many people were dressed in traditional costume carrying their distinctive flag on large, heavy flagpoles. The men wore leather harnesses to carry the pole. 

We stood near a wire which ran high between two buildings and across the processional street. As the flag bearers came near the wire they had to manipulate the pole under it. There were a number of close calls with the crowd cheering them on. A crowd favourite were the groups dressed as Roman and medieval soldiers. They tramped their way through street. 

We saw Aussie Claire in the crowd. She was back into her peregrino clothes and was about to catch a bus to La Vergen del Camino to recommence her walk. 

We met Jim, the American (if you have a problem, just throw money!) outside Leon Cathedral and found an outdoor cafe on one of the crowded streets. We had a very tasty lunch. 

By coincidence, John and Linda walked past. They arrived in Leon late in the morning. We made arrangements to meet outside the large Leon Cathedral door at seven o'clock so we could catch up with each other over dinner. 

Dinner was at a very popular bar. It was good to meet up with John and Linda and compare our walking stories. We are now one day ahead of them but this may change over the next two weeks. If we don't see each other again we will get a chance at Santiago de Compostela. 

It was an amazing rest day. 

Day 26 - Mansilla Del Los Mulas - Leon - 27 September, 2014

Time Departed: 8.15 am

Time Arrived: 12.45 pm

Distance: 18 kms

Cumulative Distance: 472 kms

Percentage Complete: 58%

Weather: Cool then sunny and warm

Accommodation: Hotel Real Colegiata de San Isadoro 

Feelings: Henk - Excited, Neil - Excited, Di - Excited

What a difference a day makes! The path provided much more variety and knowing we would be in Leon for two nights certainly put a spring into our step. We walked through a number of villages and after a couple of hours settled for a coffee and Tortilla Espanola at the small village of Archaueja. We decided it was the best potato tortilla we have had on our walk so our quest is to see if we can find any better. It seems to be a staple at the local bars and served as a tapa. Neil and I have decided we are going to make this when we get home.

Our walk into Leon was very exciting. It's fiesta time from this week until 5 October and the streets were crowded with well-dressed Spanish, tourists and peregrinos. 

In the old town there was a second hand market in one street and shoppers walking down the many traffic-free streets of the old town including Calle Anche. This led us to a fresh food market directly beside Leon Cathedral. 

We chose to have lunch at an outdoor cafe directly opposite the cathedral so we could get a good view of it as well as the market. We watched the passing parade which included peregrinos following the Camino. 

Our accommodation is excellent. It is a former monastery attached to the church San Isadoro and is about a five minute walk from Leon Cathedral. 

We set out at six o'clock and all the festivities were getting underway. The Old Town had a lot of energy. We followed a medieval procession and watched traditional dancing. 

The costumes were very colourful. All the plazas had something to offer and people moved from one to the other. 

Aussie Claire spotted us when we were heading to Plaza Mayor. It was so good to see her and she looked so different. She and her friends had gone shopping and were in "civvies" instead of "Peregrino Clothes". We took a photo so she could see it on this blog.

We had dinner in a very small bar which was frequented by locals. There was a light show starting at eleven thirty but it started to drizzle and we just couldn't keep awake that long. When we came back to our hotel after nine o'clock it looked like many had only just started to settle in for the night.

Tomorrow is our rest day and there will be more festivities to follow. We are hoping to catch up with John and Linda tomorrow night. 

Day 25 - Calzadilla de los Hermanillos - Mansilla de las Mulas - 26 September, 2014

Time Departed: 8.40 am

Time Arrived: 2.15 pm

Distance: 24 kms

Cumulative Distance: 454 kms

Percentage Complete: 56%

Weather: Cool then sunny and warm

Accommodation: Albergueria del Camino

Feelings: Henk - Great, Neil - Good, Di - Eager

Today was a featureless twenty-four kilometre long monotonous walk along a Roman road, Calzada Romana.  Our guide book says it is classified as the most perfect extant of Roman road left in Spain today. There were no towns, water fountains or shade. 

We missed our cafe con leche and cafe Americano! There were also very few walkers and we wondered if most of them had gone on the alternate path which goes alongside the road or they caught buses into Leon! 

We managed to find welcome sparse shade beside a concrete structure for lunch at twelve thirty. It was lovely to get out of the sun. 

We entered the town via the old north gate and arrived at our hotel to a most friendly welcome. 

Our rooms weren't quite ready so the hotel manager took us into the bar and offered drinks and nibbles. After a wine I just wanted to curl up and sleep which I did after we got to our room and had a very pleasant hour's nap.

Our room is amazing with a four poster bed. It looks over the narrow main street. Neil's room also has a four poster bed and his room looks onto the church spire which is impressive. 

We met at six o'clock to have a look around the town which has a population of about 1900. There were a number of peregrinos with their usual casual clothes and sandals so we can only guess that they went on the other path. We came across a statue in tribute to the peregrinos. It was quite amusing as the walkers looked totally exhausted. Henk and Neil looked quite energetic compared to them. 

We had dinner, Menu Peregrino, at our hotel in a beautiful outdoor area with a large old grapevine overhead. It had grapes ready for picking hanging quite low. Half way through our meal Jim, the American with whom we had dinner last night, walked in. We were very pleased to see him and he joined us for dinner. He confirmed our thoughts about today's walk. We now have a running gag with him re our assigned names of people on the Camino. Jim is a very entertaining and an interesting person. He will finish his walk at Leon having completed the other section on a previous occasion. 

Tomorrow it is 18 kms into Leon and we have two nights there. We  haven't had a rest day since Burgos so we are looking forward to the break. 

Day 24 - Sahagun - Calzadilla de los Hermanillos - 25 September, 2014

Time Departed: 8.10 am

Time Arrived; 11.45 am

Distance: 14 kms

Cumulative Distance: 430 kms

Percentage Complete: 53%

Weather: Very cool and sunny

Accommodation: Casa el Cura 

Feelings: Henk - Relaxed, Neil - Positive, Di - Content

It was another short, relaxing day. After a very basic breakfast of toast and jam at seven thirty we set off in warm clothes to try and find my hat. I had obviously left it in the bar yesterday lunchtime. I was doubtful that I would be able to retrieve it as it was so early in the morning. Thankfully, the roller door at the bar was slightly open so I crawled underneath and called out. The cook came out of the kitchen and understood my problem. She retrieved my hat from the office. I was so pleased to get it back as it is a good shady hat. 

We see quite a number of statues pertaining to St James. As we walked out of town we came across an unusual one as we placed our feet onto boot footprints and assumed the role of St James. 

We had two choices of path today depending upon where the accommodation was booked. The path was an old Roman road and was flat. We seemed to be in a very remote part of Spain. 

At nine o'clock we reached the tiny town of Calzada de Coto hoping for a coffee but we were not in luck. A very small grocery store was open but that was the only sign of life. As it was a short distance to our destination we wandered around the lifeless town and found a bench outside the local church and ate some of our provisions from our backpacks. A huge stork's nest looked over us.

When we arrived at our accommodation the Canadian woman with the large knee brace who takes 'Hiking Candy" and her husband were waiting in the sunny alcove. There was a misunderstanding with their booking and there was no room for them. The very welcoming young owner was very apologetic but also explained that all the accommodation in town was fully booked. The difficulty was that the woman couldn't walk another seven kms to the next town with her heavy pack that she had forwarded onto the hotel. She was not perturbed at all. She said she learned off some American retiree on the path that if something doesn't work out just throw money at it and it will! After a couple of phone calls made by the hotel owner they had accommodation in the alternate town on the other path and a taxi was booked. The woman was very funny as she said to her husband, "See Sparky, everything is going to be alright!" We all laughed being fans of the Griswolds in "National Lampoon Vacation". 

The manager offered to do our washing for five euros. It was an offer too good to refuse as it will save us looking for a laundromat in Leon which is now only a couple of days away. 

We had a wonderful, relaxed lunch on the hotel's small terrace. 

The hotel was originally a priests' house. 

Following lunch we walked around the town for about an hour. The town is very old with many references to its Roman past. 

The only people we saw were other walkers. Tomorrow is a long day with no towns on the way so we were keen to get some further provisions. We found  a very tiny grocery store tucked away in a back street selling basic necessities. It was the only shop in town. 

Just before dinner a farmer and his dogs herded his sheep behind the hotel to closed-in barns. 

Dinner was at the hotel as there was very little else in town. It was local and delicious. We shared our table with a Californian man, a retired school teacher, who turned out to be the man who gave the advice of "throwing money" to solve a problem. Jim was a great guy and lots of fun. We had a very amusing conversation on how we name people along the way when we don't know their names. On one of the stages on the Camino Jim named one woman "Dark Cloud" after an unfriendly response. We told him some of our names including "Mute Man" which had us all laughing. Our hosts gave us local fortified wines to try and they finished off a very good night. 

Day 23 - Terradillos de Los Templarios - Sahagun - 24 September, 2014

Time Departed: 8.00am
Time Arrived: 11.45am
Distance: 14 kms
Cumulative Distance: 416 kms
Percentage Complete: 51%
Weather: Very cool, sunny then warm.
Accommodation: Hotel Domus Viatoris
Feelings: Henk - Happy, Neil - Relieved, Di - Content

We met at the albergue's cafe at seven o'clock for breakfast and we were served fresh orange juice, coffees and pastries. After yesterday's long walk it was an easier day. We felt that we didn't need to get out of second gear as we strolled along the path. We were in no hurry as the 14 kms seemed so short.

When we left it was refreshingly cool and the sun wasn't quite up. We were only minutes away from Terradillos de Los Templarios and we saw two dogs and heard a rooster in the distance. At that hour of the morning nothing suggested that it was previously the stronghold of the Knights Templar. It is the halfway point between St Jean Pied de Port and Santiago de Compostela. Many of the houses are made of mud and hay. 

We took the alternate route as it took us through two small villages and away from a monotonous path alongside a noisy road.  The Dutch Four caught up with us just before Moratinas which was only 45 minutes after we left the albergue. As we were walking into Moratinas we noticed small houses built into the hillside with television aerials on their roofs so we assumed people were living in them.

Jean-Louis, "Henk's brother" took a "Dutch Selfie" of the seven of us with a camera attached to the end of his walking stick. He emailed this to us as a momento.

Just before we strolled into San Nicolas del Real Camino we noticed more houses built into the earth. It was difficult to see them at first as only their chimneys were obvious. We had to look back from the path to view them. 

A sign on the roof of one of the houses said it all! Obviously, some walkers thought they were using a discrete part of the path but were using the roof of one of the obscured houses.

We had a longer morning tea at San Nicolas del Real Camino in the cool morning air. Aussie Claire was already there and so were the Dutch Four as they had walked ahead of us. We again chose the alternate path after we left San Nicolas and this took us up a littler higher and it gave us good views over the countryside. We could see the other peregrinos walking alongside the road in the distance.

Along The Way we hear stories about the various walkers and one was of a French woman with a dog that had its own backpack. Today we finally came across her and her dog. We weren't sure what was in the dog's backpack but it was a thirsty dog and she was giving it water.

The path lead us over a stone bridge to the church, Virgen del Puenta (Our Lady of the Bridge) which had obviously been restored as it was in good condition.

It was not open and we continued for another couple of kilometres and arrived at the larger centre of Sahagun which has a population of about 1 700 people.

Our accommodation was on the edge of the town. As our bags were yet to arrive and we were hungry we walked a kilometre to the Plaza Mayor to have lunch. Claire and the Dutch Four were having a break before setting off for another 13 kms to their accommodation. We had very tasty tapas for lunch and were pleased to be having a shorter day. 

The main plaza of Sahagun has very old trees which have been grafted together. They must provide lovely shade in summer but have now been heavily pruned for winter.

At five thirty we headed back into town for a pre-dinner drink and then find a place for dinner. As we entered the plaza we found the Aussies, Lyn and Alan and spent a great night with them.

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