Tag 1 - From Astorga to Rabanal

The first night was... well. I would have washed a load of laundry, but unfortunately there was no proper opportunity to dry it. So I hung it in the room and left the window open overnight. What I didn't know was that my window faced a busy street, so it wasn't difficult for me to get up. 

The plan was to march into town (about 2km), visit the cathedral, which according to my guidebook always opens at 9 o'clock, and have breakfast there. At the same time, I wanted to get the first stamp in the tourist office for my pilgrim's passport. Breakfast in the sun was nice and at the next table sat a group of 6-7 other Germans. I briefly considered joining them, but an incredibly intrusive and dominating voice speaking Saxon/Thuringian dialect kept me from doing so. I'm not that communicative yet!

Since the tourist office doesn't open until 10 o'clock, I wanted to use the time to visit the cathedral. Unfortunately, my guidebook lied, it only opens at 10 for Mass! So I used the time and took a walk through the streets of Astorga where there was a market going on. 

When it was finally 10 o'clock, I got my first stamp and started walking. The way out of Astorga first led along the lightly traveled country road, where a group of heavily loaded soldiers from the local air force barracks passed me at a jog. From there, I followed dirt roads through the countryside until Murias de Rechivaldo. From there, my guidebook recommended a 'worth seeing detour' through Castrillo de los Polvozares. To do this, you should turn left after the hostel. And what did I do? Right, I turned left before the hostel. I noticed the mistake after about 1km, fortunately there should be a crossroads after another kilometer that should lead me back on the right path. Finally, at the crossroads, I turned right and after about 100m, I saw three big black dogs barking and growling at me. Since I was sure that they didn't just want to play, I turned around and ran, the three dogs continuing to bark and growl just 2-3m behind me as if they were herding a flock of sheep. After about 200m, they fortunately lost interest in me or I was out of their territory, because they stopped. I have no idea if they were wild or guard dogs, I didn't care at that moment... Now I had to walk the 2km back, 4km detour for nothing!

The path further to Santa Catalina de Somoza led me through more and more hilly landscape. I passed an Asian family with two children, the smaller one maybe only 5 years old! Well then, Buon Camino...

By the way, everyone here is very nice and friendly. Even locals often say 'Buon Camino' when passing by, and when motorcyclists pass by on the road, they wave. Just before Santa Catalina de Somoza, I sat down by the roadside in the shade under a tree and took a break. When I took off my shoes and socks, I noticed that I already have a small blister on my left heel and immediately took all available countermeasures. Please not on the first day!

When I arrived in El Ganso, I treated myself to a San Miguel in the cowboy saloon. And for food? Boqadilla Chorizo! After a cozy half hour, I continued. I actually wanted to stay overnight in El Ganso, but since it was only 2pm, I decided to tackle the 7km to Rabanal as well. 

On the way there, I met my first acquaintances: a Canadian woman (in her mid to late 30s) who wants to do as much as possible on her 90-day European trip from Portugal to the Camino to crossing the Alps, and a couple from Argentina. They told me that they usually reserve their bed in advance because otherwise, it can happen that after 2pm, there is no more space in the refuges. That made me a little worried on the way to Rabanal, as the sky was getting darker and I wasn't really in the mood for wild camping after my encounter with the dogs... But I was lucky and got a bed in a dormitory with 17 bunk beds (for which there are two showers and one toilet) in the first refuge. I'm already sure that I won't spend every night in a refuge and will treat myself to the luxury of a single room every now and then...

Now that I have been lying on the bed for an hour, my legs are already hurting quite a bit. Hopefully it won't be too bad tomorrow.