Day 22: Mazarife to Astorga - 31.2km

From my Mom:

Contrast

Started out at 6am as we knew we had a long day ahead of us. We walked for several hours in the dark and saw a beautiful sunrise. We are so happy to be officially done with the Meseta! It wasn't as bad as we thought it might be, but it could get pretty tough out there. Today's weather started out great, but around mile 9 of 20, the skies opened up and we got dumped on big time. There was also incredible wind. We would never complain though because our weather has been extraordinary! It rained on us for about 4-5 miles and then we were rewarded with an incredible full-sized rainbow. Just gorgeous. I began having an issue with what we think may be my shin (not totally sure) so after 17 miles we stopped in a little cafe and iced and rested it. Going up hill, no problem. Coming down...ouch!  Oh well, people say no one gets off the Camino unscathed, so perhaps this will be my test. We'll see! We've checked into a lovely hotel in town and got a special pilgrim rate. I think they took one look at two drenched rats and took pity on us. Steve did his usual routine of shower and laundry and now we'll explore the town if my shin allows for it.

We walked around the lovely little village of Astorga. It was the first city in Spain to make chocolate, so of course we had to buy some of that to try! It goes very well with red wine and as we've all been told, there's nothing better than dark chocolate and red wine for women!

We actually had a pizza tonight and it tasted so good. You should've seen all the Peregrinos in there eating. We ran into some old friends and it was great to reconnect.

We stopped in at a little shop after dinner and I was thrilled to be able to purchase a newspaper from England, even if it is four days old!  When we returned to our hotel we were delighted to find an old John Wayne movie in English on our tv!  First tv we've seen in close to a month!  And what could be better than The Duke??

We are planning to hang out in Astorga tomorrow morning to give my shin some more rest and hopefully visit the beautiful Cathedral and one of Gaudi's gorgeous buildings. Plus,  it's supposed to possibly rain in the morning.

We are officially two-thirds through with our journey and down to 164 miles!  Hard to believe

We are still enjoying our time in Spain immensely! It's going to be an adjustment to return. I'm hopeful that many of you will be able to hike the Camino someday... Maybe even just a section of it (but not the Meseta!).

Our best to all of you and thanks for following our blog!
Sue and Steve

Rain and rainbow

One of the oldest bridges in Spain

Cathedral Astorga y Gaudi

Gaudi

Astorga City Hall

Flecha Amarillo Grande

Cruce con Astorga in background

Sue walking on bridge

Caught in rain and windstorm