Day 25 - Astorga to Rabanal del Camino

We had a great afternoon in Astorga and ate too much.

A lovely pizza for lunch and then a three course pilgrims meal in our hotel at night around 9pm for dinner - very Spanish. The pilgrims meal was excellent, asparagus wrapped in ham, pan fried sea bass and tiramisu.

The festive air in Astorga that we saw when we entered town continued into the afternoon and evening. Many people were in period costume by evening and the partying continued well into the night.

We had to use ear plugs to get to sleep for the second night in a row.

Today's program involved a relatively short walk of 19.9km from Astorga to Rabanal del Camino. 

The temperature today was perfect for walking. Very mild. 12 degrees when we set off and 20 degrees when we finished.

We made several stops for coffee and maintained a very leisurely pace of 4.6km/hr, door to door, to complete the 19.9km in 4h23m.

The sky was dark and foreboding for most of the morning with a threat of rain but it did not rain while we were walking. We have been very fortunate so far not to have had to walk in the rain.

The scenery was quite varied today and we walked through rolling hills with bush land, oak forests and pine forests. In the distance we could see the omnipresent windmills that we have seen all across northern Spain. We could also see the hills that await our journey tomorrow.

Rabanal del Camino is a smaller town on a hill but with several hotels, bars and restaurants. Most of the buildings are made from stone.

We will explore the town more in the afternoon.

We believe that Rabanal del Camino is having its festival today. Might need the ear plugs again tonight.

Tomorrow we have a longer walk of 33km to Ponferrada, which will mark the end of the sixth stage of our eight stage walk from St Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela. The walk includes an ascent of 250m followed by a descent of 850m.