Astorga to Rabanal Del Camino

We both woke up stiff this morning from the hot 30 kilometer walk yesterday. In the future we will try to limit our days to around 25 kilometers. On the way out of Astorga we passed a church in town that had mosaic art across the entire front of it.  

Even the buildings were wishing us a Buen Camino as we left Astorga. This is definitely a town I would like to visit again when I have more time to look around.

We walked a bit over 2 kilometers to the next town and saw this tiny church with a lady sitting in front of it. We crossed the road and she welcomed us in and stamped our credentials for us. The church was very small but there was a great feeling to it.

The Pilgrim's Prayer was translated to English and posted at the front of the church. I had seen it before in Spanish but this is the first time I had seen the translation.

Inside the tiny sanctuary it was very peaceful.

After leaving the small church and the village it was in, we found ourselves back in the country again. Today will be a day of continuous uphill walking as we move into the Leon Mountains. 

As we climbed higher we could look back and see Astorga in the distance. We will continue to gain altitude all through the day but it will be nothing like the Pyrenees we crossed at the beginning of the Camino in France.

As we continued deeper into the Leon Mountains we walked past this St. James Cross on a monument next to the trail.

About 10 AM we sighted the next village. It was time for a coffee break and this looked like just the place to have it.

As you get closer to any of the villages the bell tower is always the first thing to catch your attention. How many years have these bells been ringing out the hour and calling the faithful to mass? I don't know how many I have seen so far but I they all seem to scream "take a picture".

After a quick coffee break we headed on down the trail. We saw a lot of dry stacked walls today. Most likely because the terrain is becoming more rocy. In the past the farmers cleared their fields of rock and stacked them to form fences to control their livestock. No mortar was used. Just rocks stacked with smaller rocks to level them to form a wall.

We met a lady named Yolanda from Sweden yesterday on the way into Astorga. Today we saw her on the trail and had coffee with her a couple of times. She and Savanna hit it off and she gave Savanna her contact information and told her anytime she decided to visit Sweden that she could stay with her.

We see animals quite a bit on the farms we pass along the way. These two mares were enjoying some peace and quiet with the youngsters snoozing in the sun.

The trail led us through some woods and there was a fence along the trail. For two miles or so people had woven in these crosses on the fence. Hundreds of them.

Every where in these small villages are flowers. Lately there have been a lot of roses of all colors.

We made it into the village of Rabinal Del Camino by about 3 PM. It is beautiful village and all of the buildings are constructed of native stone. As we entered town we saw this rustic cross on a dry stacked stone wall.

We also passed this old courtyard gate and someone and written a poem on a piece of stone next to it.

We found our place to stay for the night and as a bonus it has great WiFi so i am able to get this blog up to date. We grabbed a bite to eat at a little cafe ran by the same young lady that owns the place that we are staying at tonight. It is early to bed for us tonight because we are planning to start early in the morning. On the way back from eating we passed this carving. It seemed like a fitting picture to end this blog post with. From Rabanal Del Camino, Buen Camino!