Leon to San Martin - 25km/15.5miles
Well, it's been rainy and cold for the last few days. Such is life, I suppose. Also, we've been walking along the highway, which is less than desirable, but it will help us appreciate the nature when we get to it!
Here's another statue of a pilgrim. I make it a point now to take a picture by every one I see! Notice this guy has his shoes off - I can especially relate to him!
He's just leaning against the cross, taking it all in.
It took us over an hour to get outside the city of Leon. Our map shows the city is 6km!
Here are some interesting hobbit houses. This area is the only place we've seen them. It didn't look like anyone actually lives in them. Maybe they are cellars built into hills. But I did see a couple with chimneys!
We stayed at an albergue with only 4 people (and no heat) in our room! We had dinner at the albergue and it turned out quite nice, a wonderful home-cooked meal. We had great conversation with the other pilgrims, one from Ireland, one from Holland, and a married couple from Venezuela. They told us it's supposed to get down to 32F tonight!
One of the highlights for me today was the man who called himself a "friend of pilgrims" and gave us a bag of three little apples and a few pieces of candy when we walked by :)
Today I learned I should be more thankful. And I'm thankful it wasn't too cold today.
Day 20
San Martin to Murias de Rechivaldo
28km/17miles
Today started out at 30F when we started walking at 8:15am. Luckily, it didn't feel that cold because the room we slept in didn't have heat, haha.
Again we were walking by the road so I don't have many good pictures for you.
I'm getting to see some fall colors!
Another pilgrim, this one kind of grumpy.
The road to Astorga.
The cathedral in Astorga.
Astorga was a nice town but we needed to go further. We're on a tight schedule to make it to Santiago by Nov. 10th!
We checked in at the municipal albergue in the little village of Murias de Rechivaldo and we were greeted by Oliver, the German guy who runs it. He was very friendly and even made us a cup of tea to warm us up!
We ate dinner with a man from Italy, one from Denmark, a girl from Sweden, and a lady from Finland. Another great dinner with new friends!
After dinner I was trying unsuccessfully to get wifi so I could at least send mom a message on her birthday. The guy from Denmark offered to let me use his phone! It was great to talk to mom even only for a minute!
It's strange that we're here, at day 20. I remember day 2,3, and 4 talking to Emily and wondering what it will be like to be on day 20... and now it's here, just like every other day... just keep walking.
Today I learned that 2 minutes on the phone is worth a lot more than a Facebook message! People are kindhearted and good-natured.
I'm thankful for Oliver's hospitality, especially the tea, and for random guy from Denmark's generosity to allow me to use his phone!
Quote
"I can't wait for my left pinky toe to turn all nasty and hard like my right one." - Betsy