Astorga

Since our last update we arrived in Leon, a major city in the Castilla y Leon region. We arrived Friday to find the city very busy as a two week long music festival was under way. We had some difficulty finding lodging, especially for Saturday night. Once settled we explored this beautiful city and its enormous cathedral. So much stained glass! Saturday, we met our friend and Lydia's colleague, Janet Wheelock, arriving to begin her Camino. The days have been hot and sunny and Sunday was no exception. We had ambitious plans to walk about 26 km, but we got a late start and with the heat we were praying that we could find a place several km short of our goal even though none were listed in our guide. We experienced yet another Camino moment when we found an ad scrawled on a wall for El Molino Galochas just 2 km ahead. I called the phone number and requested a room as Janet and Lydia trudged ahead. We scored a room at a very charming casa rural with hostess Mercedes and spent a wonderful evening and breakfast with a German couple, a Frenchman, two Italians and a Danish woman. Such a wonderful mix of cultures and languages. Lydia is having opportunity to exercise her language skills in German, French and Spanish. The hot sun today was our adversary. Few stops were available and we arrived hot and tired in Astorga, an ancient Roman city known for its chocolate. About 6 km before the end of our walk we came to an oasis. A young man had set up a stand with juices, fruit, nuts all free or for a donation. It was lovely.