Day 65 - Hospital de Obrigo a Astorga - September 18 - on the Camino 27 days

Day 65 - Hospital de Obrigo a Astorga - September 18 - on  the Camino 27 days

Got up late this morning, didn't get on the road until almost 9am. But I had a nice piece of the vegan apple cake for breakfast. It was like coffee cake. Did my stretching, got organized and finally hit the road. I started to panic an then my mantra kicked in, "I'll get where I'm supposed to be when I'm supposed to be there. On the way I picked some little blueberries by the side of the road. It was a lovely walk today on country roads. We started the slow long climb through the foothills. Tomorrow we start climbing the mountains. 

The last town that was supposed to have food, Sanibañez, had two bars but they were both closed. It wasn't the time (it was mid morning) and it wasn't morning. Luckily I had enough water. Later in the day I passed David's fruit, juice, water, coffee, etc stand. This guy is amazing.  He provides all this stuff for free, accepts donations. He lives there in a little sort of lean to shelter. Last year I didn't even stop. This year I got some water and watermelon, and a sello. Had a little visit with David. Before I got to his stand, I met a lovely young Spanish woman coming from the other direction carrying two large empty plastic bottles. She had the sweetest smile. After I passed her, I saw the stand and realized she was probably walking back to town to get water. 

I arrived Astorga at about 1:30 pm, took my shower, did my laundry and went to the market for dinner and breakfast stuff. I got half a melon, four yogurts, cheese, bread and olives. Oh I also got a bag of frozen peas for my knee. It's ok but I use preventative measures. Then I was ready for sight seeing. I'm staying in the Siervas de Maria which holds about 156 people and has a kitchen about the size of a shower stall. It was a riot watching everyone juggle around cooking, all different languages flying around. But everyone ate. I met two Italians, a guy from Brazil, a guy from Canada, one from Denmark, and several others there was one Italian guy who had been a successful business man, he walked the Camino, sold everything he owned and bought an albergue. Amazing. 

 Right next to my albergue is a lovely park with a gazillion birds singing, trees, people laying in the grass, and the remains of old defensive walls. In the other direction are some old Roman ruins and you can see the baths and even some mosaic floor. They have a little display showing the floor plan. 

Them I went off to the Museo de Chocolate. It was very small, but interesting. I didn't buy chocolate there because they didn't have the kind I liked. I did find some in a shop. They have about a hundred shops selling chocolate. How did I miss all this last year? I also went to the Cathedral and to the Gaudi palace, which was built as a palace for some Bishop, was magnificent, like most Gaudi buildings. The retablo in the Cathedral was great, but hard to see. It was really dark. 

I returned to the albergue, had something to eat, and now I'm settled in for the night.