Camino de Santiago Day 21

Day 21: I woke up at 5:50 AM to get an early start to the day. I had heard great things about my next big city, Astorga, and wanted to get there in the early afternoon. It was another road walk for the first 6 miles into Villavante. In Villavante, I stopped at Albergue Santa Lucia and ordered a piece of pound cake, a chocolate filled croissant, and a coffee. After taking about a 20 minute break at an outdoor table, I continued on with the hike. The next big site I came to was Puente de Orbigo The bridge is a massive stone bridge that was first constructed in the 800s and then later reinforced by the Romans. It was pretty cool to walk across it into the town of Hospital de Orbigo. I didn’t stop in that town but kept right on going another 1.5 miles down into Santibanez de Valdeiglesias. I didn’t stop in that town either and the camino began to climb into the surrounding hills. After the first hill I stopped at a makeshift bar in front of someone’s house and bought a water. I then had another few climbs and stopped at another makeshift place and bought a banana (it was a donations only place). I then went through a small pine forest and ended up at a cross on a hill overlooking San Justo de La Vega and Astorga beyond it. I came down through the San Justo de la Vegas and then into Astorga, checking into my hotel, Hotel Astur Plaza. It was a great hotel but I didn’t have much time before lunch/dinner (showered then facetimed mom and dad). I went to lunch/dinner at Restaurante Serrano (amazing food and service, truly top notch). I then did laundry at a local laundromat before walking the city a bit. I visited the Palace of Gaudi (Gaudi is a famous architect and most of his buildings are in Barcelona. This particular palace is called the Bishop’s Palace and is his only building in Astorga) and the Cathedral of Santa Maria de Astorga. Both were incredible. After getting back to the room, there was a festival going on in the town square outside my balcony. I watched the Roman festival for a bit and then went out and walked through the parks and more of the city. At 10 PM, I came back, worked on the blog, and went to sleep.

Distance hiked: 20 miles

Early morning road walk

Farmland off to the side of camino

Puente de Orbigo

Cross on hilltop overlooking Astorga

Palace of Gaudi, Astorga

One of many rooms in the palace

Another room in the palace

Another side of the Palace of Gaudi

Cathedral of Santa Maria de Astorga

Inside the cathedral