2012-09-26 Wednesday

2012-09-26 Wednesday

Mazarife / Astorga

Camino Day 19. We left the hostal at 0730, still dark, cold (low 40s) and windy. Luckily the rain stopped.  I started the walk wearing 4 layers: a short sleeved T-shirt, a long sleeve T-shirt, a long sleeve shirt and a jacket (wind/rain shell), but I still had to walk briskly to warm up a bit. Nancy and I shipped our backpacks to Astorga.

The day remained overcast, no sun at all, it warmed up a bit, but the cold wind stayed with us all day long. I kept all layers, when going uphill, I would zip down the outer shell halfway, to avoid overheating and sweating. If you sweat on the uphills, when you get to the downhill part the sweat cools off quickly, and then you get chilly, not good for you at all.

One of the downsides of jumping ahead as we did, is that we got out of sync with all the acquaintances we made during our journey, they are now 5 days behind. We miss Linda and Kathy, they were great trail buddies. We need to friend a whole new group now.  Some of the great experiences of the Camino are the interactions with fellow pilgrims: friendly smiles, the "Buen Camino" greetings, and brief encounters at the rest stops or at the day's destinations, when we acknowledge each other, and comment on our experiences. 

There are many people starting the Camino in Leon, we easily identify them, they are the ones with huge packs, clean clothes and shoes, and with some fat in the legs. The veterans have packs that have already gone through some culling of unnecessary items, and have lower legs that are just bones and well defined muscles.

Yesterday, we met are Maude, a 19th year old Canadian from Montreal, she started in Leon, and Toni, a 50-ish lawyer from Barcelona, just retired, also starting from Leon. Today we met Gunther, a 55 year old German from Hamburg, a former banker who had worked 6 years in Venezuela and speaks fluent Spanish. 

I met Gunther at the first break after Mazarife, he was sitting at an outside table by himself, and I asked if I could join him, the other tables were taken. We ended up walking all the way to Astorga together. He asked me where we are staying in Astorga and then made  a reservation at the same hotel we had reservations. Toni also joined our group, the six of us walking in pairs  or threesomes, chatting, or just walking in silence.

We passed an American woman from Atlanta, walking alone, with a huge back pack, she had also started in Leon; it was the biggest and heaviest pack I had seen. She was struggling with, it but pretended that everything was allright. At one point she dropped her water bottle, Paulo moved quickly to pick it up and she said stopped him, saying "no thanks, I will get it," and with difficulty, she bent down and picked it up. 

At the outskirts of Astorga we passed a couple from Canada, both in their late 60s or early 70s, he had a day pack and she had none. What called my attention was how slow she was walking, laboring hard to keep going, almost looking as if she was drunk. She made frequent stops and the husband patiently waited for her. We bumped into them every day from then on, at the beginning of the day she would be walking faster, at the end of the day, barely walking, but they kept going.

We finally arrived in Astorga at 1530, having done 32 Km in exactly 8 hrs, including 3 stops to rest and eat, not bad, considering that we had to go up 3 mountains of more than 900 meters each. I was tired but happy, because for the first time, I did not have knee or ankle pain, just general muscle soreness due to the exertion, and I did not take pain medication today. We are staying at the Hostal Residencia La Peseta, an excellent hotel, by the way, I highly recommend it.

We had to rush to eat, because the restaurants usually close at 1600 and only reopen at 1930-2000, we were too tired to search for a cheaper restaurant and went to the hotel's restaurant, considered the best of the town, in operation since 1871. Paulo and I wanted to try the "Cocido Maragato," a regional dish that had been recommended by Toni, we had seen several ads for restaurants offering the Cocido.

Toni joined us for lunch, Gunther is vegetarian and had gone out to eat a cheese pizza. Toni is staying at the albergue, Gunther at our hotel.

Paulo and I ate the famous Cocido Maragato.  The dish's concept is similar to our Brazilian feijoada's, they cook every thing together (all kinds of pork meat and sausages, chick peas, cabbage) but they serve them separate, followed by an angel hair soup with the liquid of the "Cocido." It was delicious. But, like a feijoada, after you eat the Cocido, all you want is rest.

Cocido Maragato - the meats

Cocido Maragato - the legumes

Cocido Maragato - the soup

Nancy and Terry ate the 3-course fixed menu, a white beans soup with chorizo , braised veal with mashed potatoes, and ice cream, plus the house wine. Terry said that it was the best restaurant meal he ever had. 

Toni, Nancy, Terry, Erico and Paulo - all happy after a delicous meal

After our late lunch/early dinner Nancy and I volunteered to take the dirty clothes to be laundered. We were told that the Pilgrim's albergue had coin-operated machines, but when we went there we learned that it was not coin operated, but the washing and drying was done by the "hospitaleros", the people who run the albergues, for 3 Euros a load, we have 2 loads.  However, this service was reserved for pilgrims stating there, I had to beg the hospitalero to grant us an exception, which he did, provided that we came back to pick up the laundry at 2130, but no later than 2200 when the doors close.

Terry wants to get up late tomorrow and visit the city attractions, or possibly stay a rest day tomorrow. Paulo wants to keep going. Me met up at 2000 at the hotel's bar to plan next day's itinerary. After some back and forth we agreed to get up late tomorrow (breakfast at 0800) and visit the Cathedral and the local museum but leave the city by 1100 so we can reach tomorrow's target city, 22Km away, by 1700 at the latest. To make sure we have a place to stay we consulted our guidebooks, and called a few hostals, found one with private rooms with baths, and made reservations. 

Gunther showed up at the bar and joined us at our table, he wants to walk with us for the next 2 days before stoping in Ponferrada to visit with a friend, so he made reservations at the same hotel we have reservations in Rabanal, and we together selected and booked a hotel in the following city, Molinaseca. 

Paulo called Toni to join us for drinks, he is staying at the Pilgrim's albergue, and he came, limping, he felt down and twisted his ankle when stepping down the latter from his top bunk at the albergue. Toni and Gunther want to leave earlier tomorrow, so they agreed to depart together at 0800, we will depart by 1100 at the latest, and we will all meet in Rabanal. Toni departed shortly before 2200 to get back before the albergue's door closes, and Terry and Nancy soon retired, while Paulo, Gunther and I finished our wine. Gunther then treated us to a round of "chupito de orujo com yervas," a homemade liqueur of herbs, using as a base orujo, a destilled spirit made of grape skins and seeds that are byproducts of wine production. It was the first time I had this delicious drink.