Getting to Astorga was painless. Easy walk to the bus station where I joined a half dozen pilgrims who were busing forward various distances. The route paralleled the route which the Pilgrims were walking, and I wished them well as the bus zipped by them.
Hotel Gaudi, my hotel was just minutes from the bus station and in a perfect location right across from the Gaudi castle. It was a jump above my budget at 50 EUR a night, but there aren't any lower priced hostals in Astorga and I wanted to be in the old part of the City. Booking.com told me that this was the least expensive of the available accommodation so I had taken it. Turns out that it is absolutely spectacular with a view from my window of the castle!
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| Hotel Gaudi |
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| The bed is really big and comfy! |
After wandering around town for the afternoon, i Indulged myself with an afternoon nap. I didn't sleep that well last night. The hotel seemed to be a gathering point for late night revellers and I was frequently woke to loud singing and hoots and hollering. I was glad to crawl into my comfy bed for a bit of shut eye.
I have been to Astorga before, when I did the Camino last time. It was so familiar wandering around and it was as nice as I remembered,
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| What is left of the old Roman city wall |
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| The Cathedral |
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| Roman ruins |
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| The City park |
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| View from the city wall |
I walked around the entire perimeter of the old city until I was back at the Gaudi Castle. I didn't need to tour the Castle or the Cathedral as I went through them last time I was here.
I decided to eat a light "Racion" for dinner, rather than the full Pilgrims menu and I ordered "Gambas Gabardina", thinking and hoping it would be shrimp fried in garlic butter. I had seen this dish served yesterday at another restaurant and thought that it was the standard way of serving shrimp. Instead what arrived was something that reminded me of Chinese deep fried battered Shrimp. While it was tasty it was not what I was craving.
My bus is at 8:45 in the morning, so I will have an early night and high tail it out of here in the morning. I can grab a coffee at the bus station. I am expected at the Albergue in the afternoon and the current Hospitalaros are in charge until the morning of June 1st, so there will be a good amount of time to transisiton. My Hospitalara partner, Jocelyne, a Canadian from Quebec, is arriving on the 31st. I am sure we will have a good time during our 15 days at the Albergue,
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Looks like a nice city...take care :)
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