17th May 2024 Astorga to Rabanal del Camino

After another great breakfast we headed out the door and found the correct way to continue our walk.  It didn’t take long before we were back out in the countryside and listening to cuckoos and a cacophony of birdsongs which are always so lovely to hear.

We didn’t stop until we got into Santa Catalina de Somoza where we made sure we sat inside as it was a very cold day.  We decided to stay for a little while but not for too long as we weren’t sure how long the rain was going to stay away and we didn’t really want to be caught in it again.  It wouldn’t really have mattered as we had our wet weather gear with us and it is pretty easy to put on.

Down further we stopped at the Cowboy Bar in El Ganso – one of the many colourful places to stop.  Not “American Cowboy” type things but actual cowboy memorabilia – saddles, paintings, guitars etc.  This is an interesting place where we sat for a little while in the sun and out of the wind enjoying the quiet until a large group of young pilgrims (about 10 or so all in their late teens) arrived.  We had encountered them earlier that day and really couldn’t deal with the volume of their voices (like a lot of young people), so we decided to make a quick getaway and get out in front of them!

Past many ruins of houses before we came to a section of the track just before Rabanal where, six years ago, I had seen about 1.5km of crosses made by pilgrims as a real indication of their faith – no churches in sight, and, once again, I found this so much more touching than any of the churches I had been into as far as faith is concerned. This was so real and you could imagine the thoughts that went through their minds as they fashioned these faith symbols from tree branches, bandages, hair ties, shoe laces or anything else they could use before adding them to the many symbols already attached to the fence.  Very humbling.

 We found our way up to our accommodation stopping at the church to check that Vespers would be held later and, sure enough, Vespers would be at 7pm with three monks conducting the service. Our room was great, upstairs of course but a deep bath solved all the problems before we headed downstairs to grab dinner before we headed down the road to the service.  We had hamburgers for a bit of variety and were very glad we did as they were amazing.  Way too much for me though and I left most of the bread and all the chips – it was that huge!  Steve noted these were easily the best of the trip so far.  The waiter asked if it was alright, and I said it was delicious – just too big for me!

Vespers was wonderful even with the three monks – when I was here last time there were about six of them and the harmonies were divine.  The lead monk tonight had a sore throat and a cough so that impacted the performance a little.  Overall though, it was a very touching service – and the interior sparseness of the church with its makeshift curtains and crumbling sections made it even more appealing.  I preferred this to the ornate beauty of some of the other churches we have been in as it, like the homemade crosses along the path nearby, seemed to be such a pure form of faith.

Back to the room and off to bed.