Hello there! Good day today. We started in the dark and rain. Daylight came at 8:30 am and the rain gave way to the sun. We stopped in about every one of the four villages we past through, had coffee con leche and met some nice fellow pilgrims from Australia, England and Germany. There are a few from the USA as well… lets just say English is spoken mostly. The land scape is changing from the Meseta to the hills at the foot of the Sierra. This is the land of Cervantes “Don Quixote de la Mancha”.

Astorga is a historic little town of pop. 12,000. An important Roman city due to it’s prominent position in the junction of major routes – roman, trade and pilgrim roads from all directions converge here. It is also referred to as the “capital” of Maragateria.  Maragatos are suggested to be descended from the Berber tribes who came to Spain as part of the Moorish invasion in the 8th century.