September 30 Astorga Market

Rest day in Astorga. I didn’t see anything I wanted for breakfast, so went to the Super Mercado. Notice the grocery carts. Those are the large ones. People buy what they can carry home. The lady behind the fruit and vegetable area weighs and bags your purchase. There are other options for bagging yourself, but there is some process I didn’t understand. I just wanted two nectarines…


September 30 Astorga New Sticks


I had told Ruben, the man that’s been so helpful, that I had to buy poles. He said, one moment…

And he brought these out to me. He says they have been here for a year. They seem to be ok. I can’t find a brand, but they have shock absorbers.

As they say, the Camino provides…

And then there is the bag. The cheaper transport would not get the bag to me until Wednesday.

Here’s what Ruben did: He called Jacotrans to transport the bag to Sahagun. (The 5€ already attached to the bag pays for it) He has a friend in Sahagun who will carry it for free to León. Fingers crossed. He is verifying with the friend who is going to León anyway. Jacotrans will transport from León to where I’m staying tomorrow night. 10€. Sure hope this works out.

I’ve also borrowed charging equipment from the hotel. Another well-appreciated service.

Heading out to the farmacia for tape.

September 29 Astorga We Can Work it Out

This place has been so wonderful. The staff has bent over backwards to accommodate my needs.
My table is the one before the window.
And the man that tried so hard at the desk is now my waiter. He translated the Sunday menu for me. His name is Rubin.
And then he took my picture with my phone!
I’m wearing my new sweatshirt… Does it make me look fat?!
(John says no!)
[John: Right answer…]
The meal was one of the best on this Camino, including a fresh salad, pork tenderloin medallion, potato, peppers…
Meanwhile, Getz and Gilberto are singing Girl from Ipanima.
In the meantime, I’ve skipped ahead further than I had thought! 60 miles! Hmmm not sure how to mitigate that. Will look at it carefully and see if I should backtrack some. Who knows what I thought. I’ll ponder this tomorrow.

September 29 Astorga Love is All You Need

My bag is not at the hotel.

This nice desk lady called Jacotrans. They will call her back shortly. I was afraid there might be a problem since I jumped ahead so far. I had fallen asleep on the train. Nearly missed my stop. Jumped up and ran off right before it started moving. My hiking poles are still on the train. I could cry. These are the kinds of things that happen when I need a rest day. I did not call Jacotrans about long-distance transport because I was so tired.

Jacotrans will get it here tomorrow for sixty euros. The man at the desk says too much.

And it’s Sunday. That means only the Pilgrim shop is open. I’m going to see about buying clothes…

Image result for pilgrim hats


The staff has worked very hard to retrieve my bags at a reasonable cost. I’m going to give the desk people a good tip for working so hard to help me.

The good news is, I now have wine. And a little snack came with it.

And I’m in a large town. There will be an outfitter store to replace my sticks.

The dining room is now open. What a day! Furthermore, as my nurse boss once said, “Nobody died”.

It’s so great to be in a place where people are nice, as has been my experience throughout this journey.