To the Roman town of Astorga (Su 29 Sep)

Great day today from start to finish.  Dry and mostly sunny, varied terrain through farmlands and villages, arriving at a great Albergue and lucking out to get a 4 bunk room with a view that we are sharing with 2 young Korean women.

Path today cut a swath through this planted forest:

Some dark clouds, but it never did rain:

And into this village, where some folks have spiffed up their homes with a fresh application of  mud and a coat of paint.  

Perhaps they are thinking of selling?  Hope prospects pay attention to cracks in the side wall!

Curious old tractor parked in the village.  Wonder what it could be hauling?

Grapes!  First harvest of grapes we've seen:

Father and daughter from Germany.  We met a mother and son from BC yesterday:

Ready for the winter:

Critters like this will consume the stuff:

And, sadly, this little one looks to be destined to be a plate of veal :(

Everyone poses with this pilgrim statue, wearing many layers of castoff clothing:

Another wheeled device -- simple shopping cart:

And finally arriving in Astorga, a Roman town established in 200 BC, yes over 2000 years ago:

Ran into some old friends, Tom from the UK and behind, Ross from Oz:

Roman ruins, under a glass cover, with our albergue in the background:

And the cathedral,

Figure at the top of the rear of the cathedral:

And a Gaudi building:

More of the Gaudi -- great arrangement of the stain glass windows:

With all the fanciful architecture, this somehow almost seemed like a normal thing to see for sale:

And our buddy Alex from the UK who we hadn't seen since day 4 at Cizur Maner, posing as a way marker behind a real, but faded one:

Our albergue, the light coloured building with a view over the valley we'd walked today:

Out of the dark grey and into the technicolour world of Hospital de Orbigo (Sa 29 Sep)

Rain forecast today.  They were right.  And windy.  Grey skies, heavy rain at times.  We were planning a short day, since Jan's shin is giving her some trouble, and we were happy to get out of the rain.  We walked for 15 km, almost all of it lined by cornfields.  Not sure where the corn ends up, not on our dinner plate so far:

Water tower for the town:

Lots of cats along the way, almost all thin, stray and scared of humans.  This little one was happy to get a pet:

Then we reach the town.  Hadn't read much about the town, but it has a spectacular bridge dating from the 13th century.  Beside it were curious wooden structures (lower left in pic) that we learned later are used for an medieval jousting festival:

Hundreds participate, wearing medieval costumes, knights and horses in shining armour, jousts etc.  The theme appears throughout the town:

Swallows sharing a double line, under the eaves and out of the rain:

Then the town proper just over the bridge.  Nice colors brightened up a grey day:

And our albergue, San Miguel, was fantastically colourful -- full to the brim with artwork:

The proprietor encourages people to paint, offering canvases and free paint.  The best are hung on the wall.  The others painted over with white paint, ready for the next artist:

These paintings were all done by pilgrims:

A couple artful entries in the guest book:

Bunk room, one of two.  We were there early enough to get our own room, behind the blue door, for only a 10 Euro premium:

And the night finished with a nice meal.  My trout soup was one of the best dishes I've had in Spain:

And we shared the meal with Dick from Boston and Melanie from Ottawa.  Melanie's parents are joining her in Sarria to walk the last 100 km with her:

Leon to Villarreal de Mazarife (Fr 27 Sep)

Jan and I awoke in separate dorms this morning, Jan in the "polite" dorm (her term for the women's dorm) and me in the snoring dorm.  They asked our ages and it seems that 60 and overs were given a bottom bunk.  Age has privilege.

When I awoke about midnight, the dorm was unbelievably hot and stuffy, with all windows and doors sealed shut.  I practiced tolerance for a few seconds, but noticed that almost everyone was sprawled outside their sleeping bags, tongues hanging out, so I decided to practice assertiveness and opened all the windows, the door, the door to the bathroom, the window in the bathroom and the door to the outside, first hopping over the person who was sleeping on their mattress out the hallway (presumably to escape the heat or snoring).  

Back in the dorm, the cool night air cut through the fug and it felt so good.... Until the man laying beside the window nearest me closed the window.  Having another go at assertiveness, I closed the window again and happy to report it stayed that way all night!  

Heading out of Leon, we paid homage to the Parada hotel, that was featured in The Way movie, walked into the lobby and took some photos.  The staff was very nice -- even turned on lights in one room so we could take a pic -- and wished us a Buen Camino.

Lobby of Parada:

Fellow in our dorm a couple towns back told us excitedly he'd be staying at the Parada ("only 100 Euros, regular 130 Euros.  You can use my phone and book now").  First time I'd ever heard of Parada...

Walked out of town for an hour or so with a young Australian nurse living in London, named Taff (nickname for Catherine).  

Thanks to an injection of money into the Spanish economy by the European Union, Spain has some of the best roads in Europe, with almost no cars on them... 

Rain forecast (for next 6 or 7 days), a bit of a shock, after 3 dry weeks:

... a rainbow brightened the day:

Precision plowing, avoiding the green things:

Mural in front of medical centre, both unexpected In the 400 person town:

Local opening one of those doors that you wonder if they still work into a building that you wonder if it actually gets used:

Who knows what's inside this house:

Our albergue.  Nice place, 

with a wood stove to add some warmth and glow to the dining room:

Dinner time, reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones:

Salad, then gazpacho, then Vegetable paella...

Then a crepe with chocolate and fruit.  One of our best meals.  We gave the chefs a hearty round of applause.