So we are really getting very blasé, 20 km almost isn’t worth getting up for….now 25 is good and 30 is too much – so we may just have found our nirvana. After the misadventures of yesterday in terms of accomodation, breakfast was great and the walk was wonderful. It is wonderful when the scenery and the trail are different, and a little challenging but most of all when the destination is unexpected. We don’t believe that any of us have heard of Astorga and yet there are elements of the history that seem familiar.
We walked in to discover a beautiful cathedral, a magnificent Gaudi Episcopal Palace (that was never used as an Episcopal Palace because the contracting Archbishop died and the new one hated Gaudi’s design – and Gaudi never received a cent for four years and never saw the completed building AND the building is beautiful) and the ruins of 300AD Roman villa beautifully preserved by the town.
I think that this is what has really blown us away – that we just keep discovering these amazing places so tied up with the history of the Church and faith and wars and destruction and really we would never have known about them if we had not been on this journey – the joys of discovery.
The rose sniffing continues – the Peregrino meals at the end of the day with the Anzacs – walking with new people – Sue from Atlanta and her son Andrew who is completing auditions for a New York production of Amadeus by Skype and Paul from Montreal who is buying a house on a lake 8 hours from Montreal for $39,000 (we are still in shock!) and then you head to bed to do it all again tomorrow.
The next couple of days walk we think will be fantastic in that we climb to the highest peak of the Camino and we have to rug up as we head up to the mountains that you will see in the background of some of the photos that still have snow on them.
Amazing photos yet again – you are so lucky to see two out of only three Gaudi buildings that are built outside of Barcelona. The semi parabolic structures over the doorways of the Episcopal Palace are truly awesome. I must admit however, that overall I prefer the fluid organic lines, the visceral tracery and the sculpted stonework of the Barcelona buildings.
Lori – love your stained glass windows. I too have a penchant for stained glass, particularly rose windows. My travel photos on the computer are absolutely chockers with examples of stained glass from just about every country in Europe. Hope you both enjoyed your day off and that you took some time to rest your feet and legs.
Sue – just to let you know that Lori says she thought the same thing about the Barcelona buildings (cue hysterical laughter in whatever Spanish town we happen to be in at the moment)