Today’s walk started fresh and clear, with a coffee, orange juice and a pastry at the same café where we had the delicious salad yesterday. 

The Café

Then it was about 8 or so kms over rolling hills with red dirt, fields of wheat, trees – a peaceful, beautiful walk. 

We came to an overlook with Astorga in the distance. 

We walked into Astorga, a beautiful, bustling city, and beyond for about 5 kms to Murias de Rechivaldo. This is a small town, with a historic section, but also quite a few newer homes. We took two beds at the local municipal albergue. 

On the way into Astorga

In Astorga

The Albergue

The host, Pedro, is absolutely wonderful! When we arrived at about 2 pm, we were quite hungry. We had not eaten since breakfast and had walked about 18 kms by then. One local eatery was closed, the other was out of food. Pedro offered to make us a donativo lunch, that is, he made us food and we would pay whatever we could afford or whatever we thought was appropriate. So … he made us a delicious beet, tomatoes, corn, and a few peppers salad, gave us a whole wheat bun to go with it and a glass of red wine, then brought us each a large plateful of stewed white beans with morcilla (like black pudding). Then he gave us each a Greek yogurt for dessert. It was so good! 

Anyway. Below are pictures from this beautiful small town:

Tomorrow we start the climb to the highest point in all of the Camino Francés. We are doing it in 2 days. Tomorrow we walk to Rabanal del Camino.