Tuesday May 28 Hospital del Orbigo to Astorga

Today's song is Bob Segar's "Against the Wind":

Against the wind

I'm still runnin' against the wind
I'm older now but still running
Against the wind

Yesterday was supposed to be a fairly easy 11 mile walk into Astorga.  However, we ended up walking into a chilling 30 mph wind much of the way, making the day much more challenging than we had anticipated.  The temperature was around 40 degrees F, but with the wind, significantly cooler.

In any case, we started the day on a high note, with an outstanding breakfast of bacon and eggs at the B&B we stayed the night before.  This was a great way to start to the day, and so exciting, that we even took a picture!

We then left the safe confines of the B&B to be greeted by a cold, blustery wind blowing directly in our face.  The trail yesterday was much more interesting than the last few days, and there were several challenging ascents and descents during the walk.  Fortunately, the trail went through a wooded area, and not along the highway, so we did not have to listen to the constant roar of cars.

The trail was very rocky at times.  Some people have described these types of rocks as "massaging" the feet.  Don't believe it for a second- they HURT!

Finally, around 1:00, we entered the beautiful town of Astorga.  Astorga is a walled town of about 12,000 people sitting on top of a hill (nice to look at, painful to climb...).  As with so many of the Spanish towns, there seem to be almost as many churches as there are people!  We counted at least 5 size able churches, including a cathedral,  just walking to our hotel.  We are staying at a terrific hotel called the Gaudi Hotel, named after the famous Spanish architect.   Our room has an outstanding view of the Cathedral and Gaudi's Casa Botine.  I have included pictures of the Casa Botine and Cathedral that I took from our hotel window.  

The first thing we did after arriving in town was to go to a sporting  goods store to buy warmer headgear for the last weeks.  The forecast is for cool weather the next week or so, and it is likely we will be walking through snow again in the next few days.

Later, we toured the Cathedral and Gaudi's Casa Botine.  To be quite honest, we were somewhat disappointed in Gaudi's building.  We find Gaudi's Barcelona buildings to be much more interesting and innovative.  The Cathedral was quite nice, although rather plain compared to several of the other Cathedral's we have seen.

Last night, we had a nice dinner with Annette from Washington State.  The food was the normal crap level of the Camino, but more than compensated for by  company and conversation!

Today, we have a 13 mile walk.  We are again entering the mountains and will face some a significant climbs.  Additionally, the weather is forecasted to be cold and windy again, so although short, it will none the less be a challenging day.  Tomorrow, we will walk about 17 miles with a very significant climb, reaching 5000 feet.

Ok, we are off.  I will get this posted later today when we arrive at our next place.