Gaudi Castle | Day 17

Wow! So much to see and a lot of miles! 41,738 steps, 19.7 miles

Before I share about what happened today, I want to add a few things that happened last night. There’s a few pictures there of the long table that we were sitting at at the Albergue with all the other pilgrims. It was an absolute blast. We had an amazing salad, some gazpacho, and then paella. You can see how big the paella pan is, and the burner in the kitchen was something I could only dream about having in my kitchen at home. While sitting at that table, I met a lot of new friends and heard a lot of others I didn’t wanna have anything to do with, just screaming and laughing too loud. I think they were French Canadians that were all traveling together, like 15 or 20 of them. I wanted to try to get out as early as I could in the morning to avoid them.

I started out early this morning in the dark with my headlamp on, walking the first 5 miles on my own. It was very peaceful and I spent a lot of time praying, meditating, expressing gratitude, and taking in what was unfolding on the Camino for me. It’s so very hard to explain what’s happening to me, you’ll have to do it for yourself. Try to imagine walking 15 to 20 miles a day in a foreign country with sights that are so unbelievable, it seems surreal.

When you run across one of the signs that tell you you’re on the Camino and how many kilometers are left, there’s a sense of accomplishment, but you increasingly want to slow things down.

One of the most amazing things today was seen the ancient Roman bridge in Villarrjo de Orbigo. The roads leading in and out of the town were built by the Romans and are in remarkably good shape. They still do jousting in this town. I couldn’t help but stand in awe, feeling the energy of the thousands of pilgrims that have made their way across this bridge.

I passed another church that had three stork’s nest on top! I still wanna see a stork! I always thought that they were a mythical creature carrying babies around.

I took a couple of wrong turns today, but with the app Buen Camino, I was quickly able to correct myself again. The app is a lifesaver, or should I say 8 foot saver.

I got to Astorga a little after noon, covering just under 20 miles in 6 hours and 15 minutes! The first part of the path was on flat farmland, but the second half was pretty much a straight line up a hill, gaining over 1000 feet in elevation.

The cathedral in Astorga is pretty cool, but the Antoni Gaudi designed castle is amazing! Check out the pictures. I think the word gowdy came from Gaudi’s architectural work. In all fairness, it’s very beautiful and well thought out.

Well, off to sleep for some rest after a long walk today. Back at it tomorrow morning. Over the next two days we will go over the Galatian mountains and drop down to more flat hiking as we work our way towards Santiago.