Monday, June 13, Day 23 on the Camino

Today we made it to the little village of Santa Catalina de Somoza, population of a few hundred. We trekked about 18 miles and went through the large city of Astorga.
This morning was definitely a slow start because our room was on the second floor and separated from the dorms and baths so we couldn’t hear anyone getting ready. It was also a bit hard getting out of bed and thinking about giving up the nice room as we never know what we will get the next night.

I was the second to last person to leave again this morning as mine and Monica’s shoes where the only ones on the boot rack outside. Monica as usual was still in bed when I left at 7:30 AM.
I really enjoyed this morning because being in a small village with only two small hostels meant there were few, if any, pilgrims on the Camino in the morning. Especially too because most left so early. It’s such a contrast to leaving from a big city like Leon where there are so many pilgrims in the morning.
I didn’t see another pilgrim for about an hour when I entered the village of Hospital de Orbigo. It’s a larger village and has more hostels. It has a beautiful long stone bridge that must be hundreds of years old because it’s cobble paved and too narrow for cars. I had one of those flashes where I went back in time and pictured people and horses crossing the bridge back hundreds of years ago.
Just outside Hospital de Orbigo the Camino splits in two different routes. One is older and runs parallel to the new highway. The other is newer and through more scenic mountain terrain and vegetation. Unfortunately while walking through the narrow and crisscrossing cobble streets I got lost. I must have missed some of those yellow arrows pointing the way. I stopped and asked a man directions and he ended up giving me directions to the older route. In my bad understanding of Spanish I did hear him say that way was better with my Wheelie because it was paved.
I got lost one more time and saw three other pilgrims walking in circles, so I wasn’t the only lost one. They stopped to ask another man directions, and he too told them and me to take the old route but the other pilgrims walked back to town.
As it turned out it was a very good choice. It was the old asphalt road that ran parallel to the new highway but it was setback a few hundred yards so there wasn’t really any influence from it. There were a few steep hills and with the asphalt surface it was easy to pull the Wheelie. I only saw four other pilgrims and I almost felt I had the Camino to myself.
The weather was cool and the wind was blowing hard enough that I could feel it slowing me down at times. The scenery changed from the flat farmland to rolling hills and small trees and brush. Once back in Astorga both Camino routes merged back into one.
I stopped in Astorga to get a snack and something to drink when I ran into three people from Victorville, California we had met the first few days on the Camino. We hadn’t seen them in weeks. Surprisingly they remembered my name and yelled it out. It was nice to see someone from what I call the “class of 23.” May 23, the day we started the Camino.
They were nice people and had seemed a little overwhelmed at first yet had very positive attitudes about making it all the way to Santiago. Unfortunately one of them had hurt her knee and they had taken a bus to Astorga. There have probably been at least four or five other people we have met that have had knee or ankle injuries bad enough to stop, and countless ones with blisters.
After talking with them I sat down on bench to eat my snack when Monica showed up. She had left at least thirty minutes after me and caught up with me, and I walk at a pretty fast pace. She has been better than me in seeing the direction markers and had taken the other alternate route.

Astorga is another beautiful town, with of course, it’s beautiful old church, and probably with a rich history too. With so much to see on the Camino you just have to pick and choose your stops and I wanted to stop at a smaller village and not have the crowds.

Once outside Astorga the Camino began to climb and the vegetation change to a drier brush. There weren’t any farms and the vegetation reminded me a little of Southern California.

I passed a few pilgrims and also saw a few behind me and that worried me a little as I knew there are few albergues in this stretch of the Camino.

As soon as I entered Santa Catalina I saw the albergue with a sign advertising two bed rooms. I went in and looked at it, and then booked it. It’s an older but clean albergue, and it is a private room! I am glad that I did because the albergue filled up and the other down the street too because it was booked by another group of school kids.

I had diner here tonight and it was fairly good. It was a typical Pilgrim Menu that most hostels, hotels, bars and restaurants offer. It’s usually a choice of one of two or three different first course items like salad, soup or spaghetti, and then one of two or three different main course items such a meat, chicken or fish. Then there are various deserts or fruit. And of course, you generally have a choice of wine or a bottle of water. They usually don’t serve tap water. It seems everyone gets wine even though most like me don’t drink at home.

Tomorrow we will go without any real destination, which is how it usually is every day. I’d like to go as far as possible unless there are sights to see. My only goal for the day is to not end in a major stopping place noted in the Camino guide.

Best wishes,

Ted