We left for Astorga this morning across this amazing bridge in Hospital de Orbigo. This city is famous for a jousting festival of 300 knights in th Holy Year of1434 (Dintaman & Landes, 2017). The days are more sunny now and in the mid 70s. Nice!
Jeff on a street leaving Hospital de Orbigo. Just a few kilometers down the trail is Villares de Orbigo. It's a colorful place--both people and flowers.
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I know you can't believe it! This is Jeff touching an animal! He's even smiling. The calves on this dairy farm are housed in these dog-house style huts. Interesting, but not a very social experience for these calves.
This interesting pilgrim shrine is atop the hill above Villares de Orbigo. The valley below is lush farmland.
We are looking down the trail onto Villaresde Orbigo.
This valley is covered with grass hay, corn and hops. You can see the hops behind this cornfield below.
On the left a large pilgrim statue awaits us at the base of the hill entering San Justo de la Vega. The next pilgrim is near the church entering Astorga. I think it's the same guy...and he beat us to town!
The church entering Astorga in the Plaza de San Francisco, where according to legend, both St. James and St. Paul preached. At one point Astorga had 21 pilgrim hospitals, second only to Burgos. Currently just over 12,000 people live in in the city (Dintaman & Landes, 2017).
Church and outdoor cafes on the square in Astorga. The chariot races are held here in August each year.
We left Astorga today headed for Rabanal del Camino. We stopped for a quick refreshment in Murias de Rechivaldo. Those stone walls and doorways are really solid! See the sign on the door... only 245 km to Santiago!
This beautiful courtyard is an an Albergue on the very edge of Santa Catalina de Somoza. There are many master gardners in Spain!
We appear to be getting closer to the snow! EEKS. We walked uphill all day today. We're not in the snow, but it's cooler here in Rabanal del Camino. Tonight it's raining and hailing. Might make for a muddy downhill tomorrow. About 5 km out of Rabanal, we stopped at the Cowboy Bar. How could we not? We had a soft drink and met a young woman from Portland, OR. She's headed for medical school at Chicago Loyala in the fall. Wow. Great day.
