¡Que tal! Day 31- 5.5k = quiet day which allows us to spread the uphill a bit and suits the planned arrival date in Santiago. Beautiful sunny day, coolish in the shade, had a good lunch (beef stew and potatoes) and siesta is due. Seem to have run into a whole stack of new peregrinos, especially a big group of Bavarians!! So we hope they will speed on by. Last night in Rabanal we went to church again - vespers - and this time a couple of Benedictine monks led t...

¡Hola! Day 30 - 21k, 236 to go, whittling it down! Left Astorga on a cold clear morning, 9am, body feeling OK except for mid-R foot which soon warmed up to the "no significant pain" level. And then it was on and on, quick stop for coffee and croissant at Santa Catalina de Somoza ( see pic of resident stalk) bit of BS with our Aussie mates from ANZAC Day and then a straight non-stop walk to Rabanal and a nice English Confraternity of St James Refugio. The commu...

¡Buenos! Estamos aqui en El Refugio para Peregrinos de Astorga - a new "hostel" which is actually someone's home. The owners have gone to work in another country and left the house to a friend to run as a Refugio for a while. So we have Carlos & Sylvia as the hospitaleros, their amigo Jose on holiday here as the chef tonight, and their mate Sergio who is a monk from Belgium. Sergio dresses and looks like Friar Tuck - brown robe tied up with white rope. Inte...

¡Buenas! Day 28- 16.5k, flat land still - got about 1 more day of it. We are always The last to leave The hostels - see boot pic attached - The lone boots after every one else's boots have gone!! sky, no rain (Hooray - you get grateful for such small things). Spent The time pondering The meaning of a pilgrimage- enough time away to break a few habits, time enough to clear The mundane out of Your mind - this 40 days plus thing has been going on since Adam. Then ...

¡Hola! Day 27 - 21k - after a day of rest we cracked the 300k to go mark (288k to Santiago). Walked out of León on a cold sunny morning- my usual discomfort re:walking on concrete. The way was livened up when I started talking Spanish with a couple of 45yr old Señoritas (see pic) - after about 30 mins we reached the next pueblo and they bought me a Café Americano! I think it was a prize for trying so hard to speak their language! Then off on the alternate r...