Spain
Astorga

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    • Day 30

      Day 28 - Hospital de Orbego to Astorga

      September 10 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 16 °C

      Today was a good day for me. We received some help from Maria at the farmacua in Hospital last night I. Regards to my tendinitis. Today, I had the first pain-free walk in about 3 weeks, which was amazing.

      We had several surprises today that made the day memorable. One was getting a stamp and treat from an elderly man in the morning. No cafés were open, so no breakfast or coffee to start the day, so seeing this man was good for us. The other one was at about the 12 km we came upon a oasis with food and drinks, all for a donation. I mean food, David had fresh fruits, cheese, toast, cookies, chips, juice, coffee, and water. You could also sleep there if needed, open 24 hours a day, again all donation based. We gave and headed into Astorga.

      Had a nice lunch, visited the chocolate museum, and then checked into our hotel for our rest day. Got cleaned up, had a couple of drinks and dinner with Denise.

      It was a great day.
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    • Day 31

      Day 29 - Astorga

      September 11 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

      We took a rest day today and spent the day in Astorga. This is a nice city with enough shops, bars, cafes, and sights to keep you bust, but not be overwhelmed with people.

      We visited the Guadi palace and Astorga cathedral today. Again, the architecture is amazing. The palace is one of the few that Guadi designed and built outside of Catalonia.

      After touring the town we spent an hour in the hotel spa. Had a jacuzzi, sauna, foot soak, and a warm nap on the Turkish chair.

      Tomorrow we start walking again. We're 4 weeks into the walk, with 16 more days to go...
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    • Day 30

      Astorga Cathedral

      September 16 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

      We visited the Astorga Cathedral and took the "audio" tour. The Cathedral is heavily linked to the Camino de Santiago [Way of St James], and to the pilgrims who trod these stones on their way to Santiago de Compostela. This explains the presence of the figure of St James on the cathedral’s ornate Baroque façade, facing the pilgrims’ route, and blessing all those who pass.

      Standing close to the Roman city wall, the building was originally a Gothic design, but then developed along Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical lines as it was rebuilt and extended. The reason is that the building took three centuries to complete — it is generally described as Late Gothic.

      There is an associated musuem with several floors of church artifacts. The cathedral itself was impressive especially the dozen or so side chapels each with ornate altarpieces. Many were sculptured by Gaspar Becerra, considered the Spainish Michelangelo.
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    • Day 55

      Special Places #1

      September 20 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

      This has been the most welcoming pilgrim chuch I have been to so far. It was still a very old church but reach out to every person who walked through the doors. They needed money for renovations and asked for 2€ for each candle lit and placed in the circle of fire. In the 25 minutes I sat there, pilgrims paid for and lit quite a few candles and looked at the bibles in their language. Many pilgrims whispered about the people on the wall. I had never seen other pilgrims stick around in a chuch this long. This chuch got it right. It just felt right.Read more

    • Day 55

      Special Places #2

      September 20 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

      Sometimes you spend over 3 hours in a hospital in Burgos waiting to see if your toe is badly infected when you would rather be exploring the city. Then when finally know you will live, you rush to the cathedral because it is the only free day of the week. You arrive in time to see several pilgrims you know and have over an hour in this beautiful building! Things work out.

      El Cid is a Muslim title of respect and the great son of Burgos who was despised and feared. He was born in Burgos in 1040. He was hired by one of children of Ferdinand 1 because he thought he should have gotten all of the inherentes. He was exiled twice and married off to a niece, Jimena. He died fighting the Moors, buried in a monastary with his horse and later moved to the cathedral. His horse is still at the monastary I think, but his legend lives on.
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    • Day 57

      The Power of One

      September 22 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

      Many people bike the Camino. Some look like they are doing the Tour de France, with their heads down racing at top speeds.

      I saw a sunflower, stopped under the shade of a tree and pulled out my camera when I heard the screaching of breaks and thought I would hear a crash.

      What I saw next surprised me. A young man came to an abrubt halt next to the same sunflower. He obviously didn't see me in the shade. In a smooth move, before his bike even stopped, his hand reached into his back jersey pocket and he slid out his camera. He quickly took a picture and I thought he would speed off. But he didn't. He leaned over and gently caressed the leaves. He then tipped his bike even more and smelled the sunflower!

      As I quietly stood there I wondered what country that young man was from and how interesting it was that we had passed 100's of sunflower fields and he didn't know what they were. He pushed off and reached top speed in seconds. I crossed the street and took my picture.

      For the next several hours I thought about that sunflower. I hoped the 60 year old lady I ate lunch with who has 2 sons and lost her husband to ALS 3 months ago passed by and smiled. I hoped Jennifer, who stopped her chemo on her stage 4 cancer to do the Camino took joy in its beauty. I hoped many pilgrims took its picture to remind them of the Power of One.

      If one sunflower can stop a speeding bike, imagine what One smile, One postcard, One prayer, One kind word could do in this world? Believe in the Power of One.
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    • Day 23

      Astorga

      September 24 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      Wonderful to explore Astorga this afternoon. A very impressive cathedral and a beautiful building - the former bishop’s palace - designed by Gaudi. We enjoyed walking through Hospital de Orbigo - an impressive bridge partly of Roman origin. Missed out on breakfast, but found an ‘oasis’ 6km before Astorga - food laid out, help yourself and make a donation. Staying in a former women’s prison tonight.Read more

    • Day 26

      Astorga

      September 30, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 55 °F

      Bused to Astorga today. We'll start walking again tomorrow. We spent time exploring the cathedral before eating lunch.
      At lunch, I met some people that I had not seen since the first 3 days. It was awesome to catch up.
      In the late afternoon we visited the Gaudi Palace. The outside looks like a Disney princess palace to me.
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    • Day 32

      Astorga

      October 6, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

      Kolejny ciekawy dzień. Wychodząc z pokoju w hotelu spotkaliśmy Paula z Kanady, który przeszedł z nami całą dzisiejsza drogę. Było mu to chyba bardzo potrzebne, aby iść z kimś choć muszę przyznać nie jest moją mocną stroną prowadzenie długich dyskusji no ale cieszę się że było mu raźniej.
      Pierwszym ciekawym miejscem okazał się Hospital de Orbigo z pięknym post romańskim mostem. W tym mieście mieszkał ponoć rycerz, który jak dostał kosza od kobiety w której pokładał głębokie nadzieje zakuł swoją szyję w żelazny kołnierz i miał go dopiero zdjąć jak wygra 300 pojedynków. Wieść się rozeszła, przyjechali rycerze z różnych stron i na szczęście zakochany nieszczęśliwie rycerz wygrał wszystkie pojedynki i zdjął zwój żelazny kołnierz z szyi, natychmiast się wyleczył z miłości i poszedł na pielgrzymkę. Do dziś ponoć można oglądać w muzeum w Santiago jego żelazna obręcz.
      Potem Vilares del Orbigo,odbicie w prawo i już bardzo pomarszczona droga. Na około 7 km przed Astorga piękny punkt wypoczynkowy z podstawowymi produktami do jedzenia. Wszystko robisz sobie samemu a zostawiasz co łaska.
      Tuż przed wejściem do Astorgi piękny krzyż z widokiem na miasto i Cantabrian góry.
      Astorga najpierw była osada Celtycka później romańska później wizygocka potem była podbita przez Arabów no i oczywiście odbite później.
      Jest piękna katedra w stylu gotyckim z wystrojem renesansowym, barokowym i rokokowym. Piękna rzecz. Zaraz obok jest dom zbudowany przez Gaudiego dla swojego przyjaciela biskupa i pomimo różnicy stylów wcale sobie nie przeszkadzają.
      Wręcz przyklejony do katedry jest malutki kościółek pod wezwaniem Sw. Marty z Astorgi ( święto 23 lutego).
      Co ciekawe to w frontowej ścianie kościoła można zobaczyć schodki,które prowadzą do zakratowanego okienka. Oczywiście zaglądnęlismy tam i było to malutka cela bez wyjścia. Okazało się że przebywały tam zamknięte (zamurowane) na zawsze kobiety lekkich obyczajów i mogły one przyjmować jedzenie tylko od pielgrzymów, podawane przez to właśnie okienko. Do dzisiaj można się dopatrzeć napisu nad oknem "pamiętaj jak byłam sądzona i być może Twój sąd będzie taki sam. Wczoraj ja, dzisiaj ty.
      Zmieniając temat to teraźniejsza Astorga ma też muzeum czekolady i dużo różnych czekoladowych łakoci.
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    • Day 29

      Stage 26: Villadangos-Astorga

      October 11, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      @#?? km/16-18?? miles (saw varying estimates), maybe it's better not to know, decided to not worry about it and just keep walking till I got there, and I survived. Left at 0745 before dawn, the path was well lit by street lights leaving town. Thankfully there were well placed villages and another funky donativo rest stop to break it up on the northern variant after Hospital de Orbigo, away from the N-120. That's all I'm going to say about today, for now. Laundry and supplies shopping in order as tomorrow is national holiday and stores will be closed. Pictures to follow.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Astorga, Asturica Augusta, 24700, Асторга

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