Camino de Santiago - Day 7 - León to Astorga

Biking Day 7

• León ---> Astorga
• 48.3 km (30 miles)
• 3 hours (no stops)
• Total Distance Traveled: 450.1 km (279.7 miles)

What an easy ride today. 30 miles and it went by really fast. Once again the ride was pretty boring, the first 30 km (18.3 miles) hugged the road, then the last part cut through a field and then into some trees, but the path was horrible. Rocks the size of golf balls to softballs, and when it wasn't rocky it was a dirt so fine and deep it felt like you were biking in sand. I was going to keep going past Astorga, but the town looked so sweet I had to stay.

Fisherman along the way

not cool, bad path

Coming into Astorga

 
I checked into a really nice albergue and was one of the first people there, so I was able to shower and clean up in peace without a million other people trying to get to the bathrooms. I got into town around 11:30 and after checking in I went to the main plaza and read a bit because the two main sights I wanted to see were closed until 4:00 pm.

Albergue

The main thing I wanted to see was The Escopial Palace, which was designed by Antion Gaudí and was now used as a museum for the Camino. I entered right at 4 pm to take some photos before people got in. The top floor was an art gallery that was filled with works from artists from the province. As i was up there I saw a pastor with 2 men, one with a nice camera and one with a note pad. The pastor asked me a few questions about the camino and then asked if I wanted to join them and go into a restricted area that visitors were not allowed. Turns out the two guys were reporters writing a piece about the restorations they were doing to the building; They were adding an elevator and restoring the attic, which was completely unfinished and the same as it was when it was built. They were going to renovate it so people could access a number of balconies that the building had. There were so many and they all had amazing views of the city and mountains. We even climbed a ladder up to a higher roof section to a few more balconies. We walked through the attic to get there on narrow wood beams to get to all the balconies and the roof sections. It was so sweet and I thanked them so much for letting me tag along.

The Escopial Palace "Museo de Caminos"

walking through the attic

Talking to reporters

View from one of the balconies

View from balcony

haning out on the roofs

After I went back and took time on each floor to see all the pieces they had, which consisted of pieces from churches and artifacts from the camino. The building had a mudejar style, like many churches and building in southern Spain, which is a moorish style of design.

Mudejar Style

 

I came back to the albergue and cleaned up my bike chain and gears that were caked in a thick dust from the ride. As I was sitting writing a few postcards later on a guy from Ireland came up and offered me some dinner because he cooked a lot. I sat and talked with him for a bit and ate some good chicken pasta.

Tomorrows ride will be pretty easy the first half, then it is up up up the mountain. Hopefully it wont be too intense and the weather will stay nice, we are entering the rainy section of Spain.