Astorga → Rabanal del Camino
Distance: 12.3 miles / 19.8km
Elevation: +1082ft, -157ft
I woke up today around 6:15am to my alarm, packed all my things up, and left the albergue by around 7am. Before I left Astorga, I really wanted to get churros with chocolate, especially after I wasn’t able to find any last night. I went to a café that was a super short walk from the albergue and thankfully was able to get some. Breakfast this morning was a big cup of melted chocolate. Not hot chocolate, but literally just a mug of melted chocolate. It’s definitely the least healthy breakfast I’ve had this trip, but it was very yummy and I enjoyed it! I couldn’t finish the cup of chocolate though.
After breakfast, I got on the road and started walking towards Rabanal del Camino. Pretty early on the walk, I ran into a girl named Maggie from Ireland, and we walked together for about 5 or 6 miles. We talked about a number of things, including how she recently quit her job, her and her boyfriend are spending a year traveling together, her boyfriend is also coming to Santiago to hike the Finisterre together, and how our Camino experiences have been. She is also trying to learn Chinese for her boyfriend who is Chinese, and she just reminded me a lot of Tovin and me.
I walked with her until Santa Catalina de Somoza, where we stopped at a café and each got a hot lemon (a drink from the cafe). It was lemon juice, hot water, a ton of ginger slices, and I added honey, cinnamon, and black pepper. It was very delicious. After this town, Maggie stopped to have a snack and so I kept walking on my own. I walked alone for about 4 miles. It was pretty nice, and not too hot until around 11am.
I met a French guy who recognized me from the albergue in Astorga yesterday, and we walked together for a while. He had a really thick French accent, so it was tough to understand a lot of what he was saying, but it was nice to have someone to walk with along the way. I also passed the booth of a guy who did wax stamps for the pilgrim credential, so I got a very cool melted wax stamp!
Before I even knew it, I got to Rabanal del Camino. All day, I was trying to decide whether I would stop at Rabanal or go on one town further. But once I got into town, I saw a very cute garden area where a bunch of people I knew were hanging out. I decided to sit and take a rest for a while, and there were two cats there that were super cute. I also ran into Merel (who I had walked with to Astorga). I was going to try and make the push into the next town, but after seeing all the familiar faces that were staying here tonight, I decided to stay in this town for the night. There were some storm clouds rolling in and the occasional thunder already, so it was probably a good choice.
I took a longer rest in the garden, and then walked through town a little bit and ran into Jennifer, Sunday, and Kathleen again. They were all staying at a donativo, so I decided to join them. While we were waiting to get checked in, Mark and Liz also showed up, and later on even Merel showed up! It was really nice to see everyone, and it made me really excited to stay here tonight, with so many friends and familiar faces from my trip so far. The people who ran the place were also so kind and welcoming. Although I haven’t had a Camino family per se, I’ve met a number of people, and have created a bunch of friendships. Seeing so many of them come together in a hodgepodge friend group in this donativo tonight was a very meaningful experience for me.
I hadn’t had lunch yet, so after making my bed, showering, and hanging up my laundry, Mark and Jennifer walked with me to a café and got lunch. I got an open faced tuna sandwich and a glass of wine. Mark got some sort of steak and potato dish that also looked very good. Eventually Sunday, Santiago, Liz, and Kathleen all joined us as well, and we sat and all talked until the tavern closed for siesta! After that, I did a short walk around town by myself, and then at 5pm the donativo had an afternoon tea, since it was run by a British organization. I went and had tea, and they had homemade zucchini bread and some cookies too.
It was really nice to spend time with everyone. I also met a woman from Georgia named Terry who had just started the Camino in Leon. After tea was over, I went for a short walk around town and went back to the garden that I sat in earlier when I first got in. I saw Maggie again, a guy named Matt, and another couple from America named Amanda and David. We all chatted for a bit, and I booked a spot to stay in Molaniseca tomorrow (although I wouldn't end up staying there), and I hung out with the cats some more.
At 7pm, the church in town had Gregorian chanting church service going on, so I went and checked that out. It was interesting... I guess I wasn’t really sure what Gregorian chanting was, but I didn’t expect it to be that. After the service, a big group of us went to a restaurant called La Taberna del Pueblo for dinner. There was 8 or 9 of us, and we sat outside at first with some blankets (it got cold today! Tovin had brought me an extra pair of pants for relaxing in when he came, and I was glad he made me take them with me) but then ended up all moving to a table inside since there was room. For dinner, I had some red wine and 2 fried eggs with pork loin and potatoes. I also had a bite of Liz’s leftover pasta, since I was still a bit hungry after dinner.
Soon after dinner, I went back to the donativo and quickly took out my contacts, brushed my teeth, and got ready for bed. At 9:20pm, there was a pilgrim blessing where they did some more chanting and basically wished us a good and safe journey for tomorrow and the rest of the Camino - Or at least I think so, it was all in Spanish, so I wasn’t too sure.
After that final service, I came back to the donativo, got ready for bed, and finally got into bed. Tomorrow is going to be a bit longer of a day with a very grueling downhill, so I want to get as much rest as I can. Today was a really long day, but it was also a really good day, and I feel very very blessed to be able to stay in this donativo! The group of people here tonight made it very special, and it warms my heart to know that I have met and made so many friends on this trip.
