I took the bus to Astorga this morning – thought it’d be best to rest 2 days before tackling the mountains that lie just ahead. Astorga is 16kms further down the Camino and much larger town than Orbigo, so it had a little more to offer.

And it has chocolate to offer!! Every other store seems to offer specialty chocolate; whether in shapes and figures, or in various colors. There’s even a chocolate museum! I resisted completely, but that’s only because I still had a king-sized Nestle bar still in my pack.

How many colors of chocolate are there?

Astorga is a nice little touristy town, fully enclosed by a city wall, with a majestic cathedral and modern architectural gem beside it by Gaudi, the Spanish genius. There’s lots of little stores to peer into and plenty of plazas to sip coffee in while whiling away the time.

Even a Ham Museum!

Many of the pilgrims who were in the albergue last night have popped up here too, especially all the Canadians. Actually, the 2 sisters (age 18 & 20!), and the 2 from Calgary are sharing my bunk room. There’s also 2 Koreans, a new Canuck, a Spaniard, and a mystery lady I haven’t met yet. Typically, asking someone their nationality is the first question asked, so it’s how we identify each other.

I met my first Finn while waiting for space in the kitchen. I had bought some pesto sauce at the grocery and was just going to use some communal pasta, while she had salad and tortellini but no sauce = dinner for 2!! Brenna, the older sister, joined us and we ate al fresco on the albergues’ veranda, enjoying conversation and the view out over the countryside.

Busy kitchen!  Annamarie (my chef) is far right…

Pasta seems to be the go-to self-cook dinner-of-choice. It’s easy, quick and cheap. Some pilgrims just do the salami, cheese, olives & baguette route; while others are even more adventurous. Fancy omelettes, pork chops with mushroom sauce, even sautéed mussels were on the menu tonight. At some point going to a restaurant has to be easier…

Eli Wallach had cornered me this afternoon on the street, asking for a dinner date. I thought I had politely blown him off but he came by our table saying he had waited for me…with the language barrier I couldn’t tell if he was serious or not…

That’ll be me on the road tomorrow!

Oh, shins feel good so back on trail for a trial tomorrow