emilyonearth

Finally we got a bit of variety back into our day today! We’re at the end of the Meseta, so the flat is over, the hills are back, and we’re beginning to see a bit of variation back in our days.

We left very early this morning – I was busting for a pee just before 5am, but I knew that as soon as I got up, mum would also be up, and our day would begin. I lasted until a couple of minutes after 5:00 and couldn’t wait any longer, and then we were out on the road before 5:30 for our earliest start yet. it was pretty dark for the first half hour and we needed a torch to be able to see the track, but after 6 it gradually started getting lighter.

We stopped in the next town for breakfast, and then basically didn’t stop again until we reached Astorga, another 18km later. We had a few hills, and the stones were back in the ground which made the walking a little more taxing on both the feet and the brain, figuring out the best places to step for minimal discomfort and risk of injury. Just when we were about 5km out from Astorga it began to rain, so we donned our jackets and our makeshift rubbish bag pack covers for the last stretch into town.

Our albergue is pleasant, and we know quite a few of the other people here, which is nice. Astorga is also lovely. Mum lamented that we hadn’t planned a rest day here. That would have been nice, but we had to make do with a short walk around town this afternoon instead. We saw the cathedral (“Man! Another big-ass cathedral!” – Mum) and Gaudi’s Palacio, the second of his three buildings outside of Catalonia that we have now seen. We had a snack in the park looking out over the outer parts of town, and towards where we will be walking tomorrow, then returned to the albergue for the evening.

We had another lovely communal dinner tonight, and we shared our table with the Australians we met yesterday, as well as a French couple that we have been crossing paths with for some time now. Mum had salad as her starter, which I had vegetable soup. We both had spaghetti bolognese for our main, although the alternative was a chicken curry that also looked delicious. For dessert, I had ice cream and mum had fruit salad. All for €14 including water, wine, and bread. Very tasty!