Day 19: From Hospital de Orbigo to Rabanal del Camino. Who knew Astorga was so cool?

We both had a rough night last night.  Remember how much we liked the town where we were staying, Hospital de Orbigo?  Our modern albergue was on the street facing the river, and our room was on the ground floor.  The locals didn't feel like going to bed or lowering their voices until way into the wee hours!  We had a 4:45 wake up set, and we were both grumpy!

Opting not to talk loudly as we walked through the deserted town, we decided to take a slightly shorter route that ran alongside the main highway to the first town 11+ kilometers up the road.  Our thinking was this: why take the scenic route when the sun hasn't risen?  Why worry about traffic at 5 in the morning, and besides, this highway has one lane in each direction.

The sun rises, and we make good time.  We need to.  Our plan is to walk a day and half's worth in the guidebook so that we end up at the beginning of the mountain for tomorrow.  Anyway, after 11 hours, we come across this historic cross in the woods.  Among the markers along the Camino, you find crosses which were the original markers.  Some date back many centuries.

Eleven kilometers into the walk, a sign that coffee is in my future. (Outside San Justo de la Vega.)

Tina says "Come on, smile!"  I haven't had my coffee yet.  The nearby town is Justo de la Vega. Behind it the city of Astorga.

We walk into the little town of San Justo de la Vega, population 2,100.  It's a bedroom community outside the city of Astorga.  The main street is tired.  We spot an open bar called the Oasis, and go inside.  The clientele is old men and civil servants.  (It's only about 7:30 in the morning.)  I order two large cafes con leche and 2 raciónes de tortilla Española (Spanish omelet).  We receive the largest, most beautiful, tastiest omelet ever.  In addition to potato and onion, it had a hint of green and red pepper.  Wow... Tina couldn't finish hers.

Why I get up so early in the morning.

We next walked into the city of Astorga, a place I knew nothing about.  What a cool city!  We're going to spend some time here in the future.  The city dates back to the Romans.  Saint Francis of  Assisi stayed here when he walked the Camino.  Antoni Gaudi designed the Bishops residence next to the cathedral.  Today's population is only 12,000, but it is an incredibly cool city.

Roman ruins in the city center.  check out the mosaic floor at the upper right.

The Plaza de España featuring the old town hall.  The clock is struck by the figures of a man and a woman.

The archbishop's palace designed by Gaudi. Check out the arched doorways at the bottom right.

The front of the cathedral.

We went into the cathedral, but they were having mass, so no photos.  We lit a candle for Tina's mom, and continued our walk out of the city, vowing to return with more time.

About a kilometer out of town, there's a tiny hermitage that used to take care of pilgrims.  We refilled our water bottles here.  It's named Ecce Homo.  I couldn't stop thinking of Kevin Cline in "A Fish Called Wanda".

Tina approaching Ecce Homo.  You have to be prepared for anything.

We still had almost 20 kilometers to walk.  The countryside was changing.  As Tina mentioned, the wheat had changed to corn.  It has become hillier and we are walking towards mountains.  There are a lot of trees, first oaks, and later, pine trees.

Tina, trees, hills and mountains. (A little wheat is visible at the right.)

Our halfway point is the tiny town of Santa Catalina de Somoza.  This is a beautiful little town with a few cafes and hostals serving pilgrims.  The population is 50.  We saw a baby.  Make that 51.  The next town we passed, el Ganso, (the goose) had a population of even fewer.  These towns are dying.  The old stone houses are falling down.  It's a real shame.

Finally, we reached our destination, Rabanal del Camino.  Even though it's got the same vacant buildings as the preceding towns, this hip little place has a great vibe.  It's the last town before tomorrow's climb up the mountain.  We're at about 4,000 feet and tomorrow  will climb to 5,000 before descending to less than 2,000.  The descent is supposed to be a killer.  So everybody stays here.

A quiet part of the main street in Rabanal

The interior of the chapel at the monastery in town. Sitting here, I got all choked up.

Spotted on the wall of an abandoned house with no roof and only two walls.

This town could be as cool as Santa Fe, New Mexico if just a few things could come together.  Instead, it's on life support, thanks to the Camino.

We're staying at a great private albergue, which is absolutely full.  I got us a private room, so I'm typing at 10:30 but everybody else is asleep, including Tina.

Tomorrow's a big day.  Tina will let you know how it turns out.  Good night!