Dave's Travel Blog

We left Astorga this morning around 8:30am, which is later than we normally leave to start our morning walks. It was a relatively short walk to Rabanal (20k) and we didn’t want to get there before our 2pm check in. Today’s walk was very nice as we exited the urban environment and got back into the Spanish countryside as we get ready for the climb into the mountains tomorrow.

The hardest days on the Camino are the ones over 25k and the day after those long-distance walks. So, today’s walk was relatively short and flat, but I still felt worn down from yesterday’s walk. My hip was very painful this morning and I felt it through most of the walk today. Fingers are crossed that I will make it through the next 10 days.

We were surprised to see our 81 year old Dutch friend, Tony, when we entered Rabanal. We thought we would not see him again after the dinner we had with him 4 or 5 days ago.

Rabanal is a very nice small Spanish town. We had one of our best lunches on the Camino shortly after we arrived…a very good pasta carbonara.

Time for a shower and a short walk around town.

Update: we ran into our Dutch friend Tony as we were coming into Rabanal and took him out to dinner tonight. A very clear and mild night tonight. Perfect weather.

Just a few pics for today:

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Yesterday’s walk from Leon to Villadangos del Páramo was fairly easy and not so pretty. Most of the walk was through the Leon environs, with much of it through commercial office parks and along a main road. We stayed at, what essentially was, a truck stop motel just outside of Villadangos. The folks running it were nice and the room and the meal wasn’t bad. Villadangos was one of our least favorite towns as there was not much to do and it smelled very bad in places. We had the windows open in the hotel because it was so hot and I woke up at 2:30 am with some of the worst sewage smell coming into the room. I shut the windows quickly, but not quickly enough to stop the odor, which seemed to last for hours.

We were happy to get up early and start the journey to Astorga because it is known for being a much better and bigger town and it has a nice cathedral. We knew we were in for a bit of a rough walk because of the 30k distance and the 80+ degree weather. However, we overestimated our ability and this turned out to be the most difficult day of the Camino so far. It wasn’t the terrain which was rolling, but not hilly. Rather, it was the brutal heat and no escape from the sun the entire way. Also, there weren’t many places to rest and eat. We got a few things in a small shop, but we were determined to get to Astorga as quickly as possible.

We limped in to Astorga and spent way too much time trying to find the apartment we booked. After almost 30 minutes, we made it to the place, which turned out to be one of our best stays yet. Nice separate bedrooms, kitchen, washing machine, etc.

One thing of note today was the town of Hospital de Orbigo. The town appeared to be associated with some sort of medieval jousting fair as part of the city’s history. It also has a very long stone bridge and lots of banners throughout town that enhance its medieval ambience (see photo above).

We are hoping we can recover for tomorrow’s walk, which is only 20k…only 20k…ugh. We are getting close to heading into Spain’s northwestern mountains and out of the Castilla y Leon region and into Galicia.

Pics from the last two days:

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Leon Cathedral

Did a bit of sightseeing in Leon today as we visited the Museum of San Isidoro and the Leon Cathedral. Both were well worth the small admission charge. Leon Cathedral is French Gothic and has some of the oldest stained glass windows. The cathedral has 130 stained glass windows, many of them very large and it’s stunning no matter where you are in the cathedral. I have lots of pics today, so I’ll just stop here and let you peruse the gallery.

You could also read more about the windows here:

 https://www.fundacionjacobea.org/en/ways-of-santiago/the-cathedral-of-leon-and-its-stained-glass-windows/

The walking starts again tomorrow.

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We are so glad to be out of the Spanish Meseta, so much so that we have tears in our eyes, much like the pic above. A not so difficult 20 kilometers has landed us in Leon. After 5 days of mental and physical anguish, we have arrived back into Spanish civilization and have overindulged in everything that Leon has to offer. We went on an afternoon tapas crawl, toured a few churches and then an evening dinner and drink extravaganza at a Leon microbrewery…the Four Lions Brewery. So, I don’t remember much about today, but I still have a few pics that I included in the gallery below.

We have walked over 300 miles and have another two weeks to go, but we are now very confident that we will be able to make it to Santiago. Another rest day in Leon tomorrow and then it’s back on the Camino.

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When we first entered the Meseta area of northern Spain over a week ago, the first few days were great with very nice scenery. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we wondered why many people skip this part of the walk, well, over the last 4 days, we got the answer. Today was the third or fourth day in a row of a long, straight and flat walk with very little to see. Most of the few old churches along the way are closed. small towns with places to eat are few and far between. Today, however, we finally saw hills and mountains in the distance and that gave us hope that the scenery will be better soon. We leave the Maseta tomorrow and make it to the major city of Leon, where will will enjoy a break day.

We were able to ship our packs today and walk with only day packs. That made the 16 miles of walking to Mansilla more tolerable. It’s the first time in 19 days that we weren’t carrying our regular packs.

We have settled into our albergue, visited a few churches in Mansilla, and have done some laundry. Heading out soon for some beer and food.

A emphatic shout out to Casa di Doru in Mansilla. Some of the best food and service we had in Spain so far.

I wish I had some better pics from today, but I don’t. Still…

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