12km uphill without breakfast! It is not too great, actually. But the view from here is this:
… and some fuet goes down very nicely, flushed down by a bit of tinto de verano. 8am is a bit early, but oh well. It is 12 somewhere. I think I’ve already said this once or twice before.
Some time before that, we pass what I can only describe as a nest of hippies – Jardin de something. Three dudes there, one is just waking up, another sitting cross-legged, obviously soaking in the Sun energy from the dawn, third just shuffling about. They have an abundant spread on a large table, coffee, whatever you want – donativo, of course. Meaning you take what you want and pay what you want. Sweet, except there’s also – I’m sorry – a not-so-subtle stench of shit (I do apologize once more) everywhere here. Sorry again, for good measure. I’m super hungry by that point, but we don’t stop there.
We eat a proper breakfast as soon as we get down to the city’s center, in plaza Mayor, where else. Tortilla, coffee, orange juice, croissant.
Astorga looks rather provincial in general, but two things stand out: the Cathedral and the bishop’s Palace by Gaudí. We don’t have all day for sightseeing and have to choose the one or the other. Gaudí wins. The Palace is, like everything by Gaudí, is something else. Well worth the visit, really.
Just beeped 30km on the watch. Don’t yet know how far we’re walking today, but I suspect 39-ish. It’s hot but windy, so…
Tempo is good, so maybe. The next village is (no idea what I meant to write here, it was a note on the go… “The next village is.. not where it’s supposed to be”?)
On the way out of Astorga we picked up a good pace and walked something like another 20km together with Patrick from Ireland. Patrick can walk wicked fast, so at times I had to bite down and try to remember national pride is at stake as well as personal. Together we flew up to Rabanal where we stayed at another parish albergue, this time ran by the British. It is very well equipped, indeed, obviously by the people who know personally what a pilgrim needs and what is usually there’s a shortage of (like laundry line and pegs). Here it’s everything and a very well equipped kitchen. And library. And five o’clock tea with biscuits. We stock up at a shop and cook up some nice spaghetti with tuna, onions, garlic and cream. Some fresh veggies to go with and a nice rosé.
Met Andrew, an exceptionally pleasant young man from London, very well educated and fun to talk to. Cool fact: his Shri-Lankan father’s first girlfriend was Yuri Gagarin’s daughter. Good times.
One French-speaking dude with dreads looks like one of Tokkien’s Ents. He says he’s a gypsy from northern France, that his mother gave birth to him on her own, in the mountains somewhere, and that he’s on a pilgrimage to Santiago, Rome and Jerusalem. Looks like he might be, too. He scrubs the stove in the common kitchen after everyone’s done with their cooking. Great guy.
There’s also a mass with blessing of pilgrims in the church next door. It is as Catholic as you go, with 4 monks, chant, tabulature music and so on. Stiffly Catholic. We’re a bit out of place, but hey, a blessing is a blessing!
No WiFi here, so no pictures yet, will get to it later.
Some proper ascents tomorrow, will be slow and painful.
😂😂