Astorga to Santa Catalina

For dinner last night I went to Hotel Gaudi (where I stayed last time I was in Astorga) and ordered salad and lamb chops. The Spanish do baby lamb so well!

This morning I woke up to the birds cheeping in the garden, the temperature reading of 8 degrees and a wind speed of zero. I’ve never seen zero before on my app. I was in no hurry, with only 10 km to walk, and wanted to make the most of the perfect weather, the sunshine and the scenery. I stopped for a fresh orange juice in Murias, where I met a couple from Liverpool doing the Camino with their dog.

Everybody made a big fuss of the dog: he was let off the lead as they left town and he just followed them obediently.

Arriving in Santa Catalina, this is a popular bar and Albergue.

This is my accommodation: Via Avis. It’s an upmarket restoration, very tastefully done. The owner is Carlos, Spanish, and his Lithuanian wife. The house is about 400 years old. The walls are original but the roof is new. It’s been open 18 months. I hope they do well as every detail has been carefully thought about.

This is the view looking south from a huge picture window at the back.

And this is my room, called Golondrina (Swallow).