Astorga?

Read all about it! But it changes from moment to moment. The news was being broadcast once more as I stepped back on to the path heading towards sanity? And then it was a nice meander, up and down, then over the top - after the lovely café on the cusp which was a place worthy of a coffee with oat milk, lovely doggies for company too: La Casa De Los Dioses.

Not a long morning walking. Arrived at the albergue at 1, after walking to the Cathedral, buying some Tiger Balm, finding the albergue San Javier closed, having a Spaten pilsner beer in the 'Oirish' bar, in the same plaza, with complementary snack: Astorga. I didn't like the experience of the busy albergue. I normally don't. This time I almost got my stuff together and walked into the dusk... Instead I went back to the Oirish Bar and ate pasta. Then I returned to the albergue tried to make something edible from the ear of corn I'd picked on the morning. But without a pressure cooker I think the grouts wouldn't soften enough to be really paletable and I have no lime slack equivalent to make it into Mas. I went back to more pasta in the Oirish Bar.

Many surprises last night: Finnish charmer and Australian fraulein, a billion Korean's, an Aussie from York, WA (Brendan) a gold miner, a peregrino from Zaragoza, many many Koreans, dos Catalan chica from nearby Barcelona who snore happily in the humid room at the rear of the once Convento Siervas de Maria and a vagrant 'Oirish' in the Oirish Bar.

A frightened American girl said 'Snow' and I grinned like a hounded man - since Le Puy en Velay I have prayed for snow on the Camino Frances... It's either that or blistering sun. But never never rain!

Churros and Chocolate, Chocolate con churros oh yeah baby. I noticed a sign for it from 6:30am. And it's just what I need to keep the engine burning the next 30 kilometres on day 3 since León. No no no Samuel Smith's in the next Oirish Bar?!?