Day 21: Villadangos del Páramo - Astorga

Finally, the perfect day to walk. Although supposedly cold, it was sunny all day, no rain or wind to bother us. We felt invincible, like we could walk all the way to Santiago with the sun by our side. But we are not in such a hurry, are we? So we enjoyed the day as much we could.



We had walked 20km before even noticing the time had flown by. We stopped frequently to take pictures of birds and the landscape, taking pleasure of every ascent and descent as we got closer to Astorga. We had not climbed a hill in more than a week now!






A few kms before Astorga we met a guy living in the middle of nowhere, with a small food stand that offered many food articles for pilgrims to take as they desire, for free (milk, jam, water, fruit..). Later we were told that this guy has been living here for the past four years without food or electricity, devoting his life to pilgrims.



After some kms, we reached Astorga. On the way we had seen a couple of billboards advertising the typical "cocido maragato" and decided to give it a try. The advertised restaurant, however, charged 21€ PER PERSON for this.. So we went somewhere else! We found a small restaurant that had it for 6€ a plate. Maybe not as good, but surely healthier for our wallet.



Later we discovered a typical cake, the "mantecadas", so we also bought some. I liked it a lot, although Luís thought it was the too simple and regular.


Lots of people in the albergue with us: a German woman and two guys, one Spanish and the other Brazilian. The albergue was warm, the shower hot. Everything a winter pilgrim can ask for!