Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Astorga, Spain - San Martin del Camino to Astorga

We found that in San Martin del Camino on a Sunday, there were indeed no shops open.

We ended up having dinner with about 20 other pilgrims at the Albergue. We had someone translate to the hospitalier (owner of the Albergue)that we were vegetarians, and after asking 3 times whether we ate fish... I think he got the gist that it was vegetables only. So for our dinner we had a huge ensalada (salad), and patatas fritas (french fries)- it was a great meal, though we are now a little worried this is all we will eat for the next couple of weeks.

Being eager little walkers, we started our day at 6.30am. It doesn't seem to get light here until after 8.00am, so I suppose we'll have to get use to walking in the dark.

Today we've managed to find our way, and the yellow arrows have been kinder to us. Part of the walk this morning was to walk for about 3km through a heavy wooded area. Me being the baby I am was too scared for us to walk through alone, so we waited for other pilgrims to come along, before venturing in.

The scenery today has been wicked, we've walked through small stone villages and through fields of maize. Our legs are starting to really ache today - especially our shins. We've stopped quite a few times to take off our shoes, and massaged our feet.

After arriving in Astorga and dropping off our bags, we headed straight for a pharmacy to buy some deep heat. Thankfully we bought a Spanish translation book, so I was able to get across to the pharmacist what we needed. Ahh, the bliss of putting deep heat on tire muscles.

Today has been pretty cold, so I've invested in some black knee high stockings for the cooler mornings - I'm going to look a right sight, but at least I'll be warm!

Already we've met some amazing people. On the second day we are starting to feel more like pilgrims, I look forward to the days to follow.

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