Tuesday, June 5, 2007

Astorga

The 25 km day to Astorga included a stop at Hospital de Orbigo where we stopped at a medieval bridge and jousting field. It was the site for the last major chivalric tournament of the middle ages. When we arrived the flags were flown and and the field was set for a reenactment of the tournament.

Despite the rainy weather, the walk through the hilly terrain was scenic and we could see Astorga over the hills as we approached the city.
Astorga was much larger than San Martin with a cathedral and Gaudi palace that held a variety of artwork dating as far back as the middle ages and as recent as the twentieth century.
The walk was long, but at the hostel the hospitalero helped many of us by bandaging our blisters! We were ready to continue our walk to Rabanal the next morning.

-- Liz Michael

3 comments:

Richard said...

I remember Astorga. I was healthy then. Long live the Camino.

John Carey said...

I'm curious to hear more of your reactions about what you think it was like to do this several hundred years ago? Do you think it was inspiring, tiring, fun?

Richard said...

One of us wrote what "richard" said, but it wasn't me! The pressure of ticking minutes meant someone forgot to sign the entry, but no harm, and I was ok.