Day 24, Astorga to Rabanal del Camino
June 28
Friends and family in NZ have been messaging, telling me it's hot here in Spain - they saw it in the news. They're right.
Clear blue skies all day yesterday and today. The sweat was fairly prolific and I knocked back a fair amount of the agua.
Today I left behind Astorga, with a few parting photos of the Gaudi church and the cathedral (which you can see in the photo album at the bottom of the page).
I was pretty lethargic, probably as a result of too much wine last night. I was greeted from behind with a chirpy Kia Ora, as Linda and Chris steamed by.
Later I caught the Irish and chatted to them awhile before I stopped off for a coffee at the village of Santa Catalina at just past the 8km mark.
It was starting to get very hot by them and we'd started to climb into the hills, so I just plodded on, arriving here about 12.30pm.
Rabanal is the starting point for a mountainous section. It's fairly remote. In the 12th century the Knights Templar had a presence here, protecting pilgrims over the mountains. These days an order of monks from Bavaria have taken up residence and apparently Gregorian chants can now be heard at vespers, 7pm.
I have a tiny attic room. I couldn't hook on to the hotel's wifi, which was bit of a worry, as I had yesterday's blog to get online too, but then I found I could hook up to a neighbouring unsecured network. I'll probably find my bank account empty next time I look, but I won't go there.
Once I'd had a shower and hung out the washing, I wandered to the grocery store, which had some lovely cold (cheap) beer. Now I've drunk that and sorted this very short blog, I think it's time for a siesta.
Here's the link to today's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/seGcWDXC9SJzw8fT6
Friends and family in NZ have been messaging, telling me it's hot here in Spain - they saw it in the news. They're right.
Today I left behind Astorga, with a few parting photos of the Gaudi church and the cathedral (which you can see in the photo album at the bottom of the page).
I was pretty lethargic, probably as a result of too much wine last night. I was greeted from behind with a chirpy Kia Ora, as Linda and Chris steamed by.
Later I caught the Irish and chatted to them awhile before I stopped off for a coffee at the village of Santa Catalina at just past the 8km mark.
It was starting to get very hot by them and we'd started to climb into the hills, so I just plodded on, arriving here about 12.30pm.
Rabanal is the starting point for a mountainous section. It's fairly remote. In the 12th century the Knights Templar had a presence here, protecting pilgrims over the mountains. These days an order of monks from Bavaria have taken up residence and apparently Gregorian chants can now be heard at vespers, 7pm.
I have a tiny attic room. I couldn't hook on to the hotel's wifi, which was bit of a worry, as I had yesterday's blog to get online too, but then I found I could hook up to a neighbouring unsecured network. I'll probably find my bank account empty next time I look, but I won't go there.
Once I'd had a shower and hung out the washing, I wandered to the grocery store, which had some lovely cold (cheap) beer. Now I've drunk that and sorted this very short blog, I think it's time for a siesta.
Here's the link to today's photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/seGcWDXC9SJzw8fT6
Well done on making it thus far, Peter!
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