Overnight - Hotel Ciudad de Astorga
A much more attractive walk today with the Camino back to its best. I was one of the last to leave the albergue in San Martin and cruised up a much quieter track under the early morning sky. I stopped for some breakfast at Puente de Orbigo, and immediately crossed the historic 19-arch stone bridge between there and Hospital de Orbigo. Then it was onward through fields and light forests with no traffic in earshot.
A few decent hills punctuated the walk and at the peak of the last one suddenly appeared a small cafe in the middle of nowhere. Just as I was preparing myself to buy and scull a can of Coke Zero, the proprietor explained it was a free organic juice bar, that we should choose from the range of juices on offer, and that she would add an ice cube to the glass to cool it down. And she said it all in an Australian accent!
It transpires she is a Port Lincoln native who's been here for a year after finishing her Camino here. She seems to be having a great life and she certainly enriched mine.
I was completely refreshed for the long mostly downhill trek into the comparatively large, and very pretty, town of Astorga.
After checking in at the very modern, and my second most expensive, hotel (behind the place in St Jean Pied de Port), I promptly fell asleep for a few hours. This siesta business is catching. When I woke up, I didn't feel like much more than a brief wander around the cathedral precinct, a couple of trips to the excellent gelato shop across the road, and finally, the fairly ordinary pilgrims menu at the downstairs restaurant.
I was thinking today that if (when!) I do this again, I'll just walk straight through all the big towns on the Camino Frances and only stay at the smaller villages. Everything there seems much better value and the people that much more content and engaged. Doesn’t mean, of course, that I won’t be stopping at the frozen yoghurt and gelato shops in the big towns when I do see them.
Weather - Very much the same as yesterday, with the temperature appearing to increase markedly as I walked into Astorga.
Health - All good again - no troubles at all.
Food - Banana; Tortilla slices x2 + bread slices x2 + pot of tea at Puente de Orbigo; Glass orange juice with ice at canteen outside Astorga!; Cups chocolate gelato x2 at Astorga gelato shop; Pilgrims menu at Astorga hotel (bread roll, tuna salad, chicken schnitzel with lettuce/tomato, rice pudding, pots of tea x2)
Expenses – Accommodation - 60.01; Food/Drink - 27.15 Total - 75.71
Walking time - 5 hours, 45 minutes (start 7:20am, arrive at accommodation 1:05pm)
Brierley distance - 23.8km (total 513.4km)
Daily Steps - 34,763
Total Camino steps - 821,327
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