Remy’s 2023 Travel Notebook

I enjoyed last evening playing songs and guitar/ukelele with other pilgrims so much, I went to bed without writing a post. Today I walked to Astorga with Geonne, where we had lunch and decided we would part ways for the time being. We became great friends in such a short time and were both sad but will likely run into each other again!

Walking out of Astorga, a tourist family looked at me and signaled they wanted a picture. We couldn’t speak the same language but the dad took out his phone and I waved over his son and wife. He snapped a photo on his phone, then I handed him my phone to get the same picture. Interesting 30 second interaction. Maybe they had also walked before, or maybe they were just excited to start seeing pilgrims… either way it made me happy!

I walked 10 miles alone in the heat through quickly changing landscapes. I felt like I was in California and Arizona at times. The dirt was often very red, and there were pine trees and bushes like you would see in California high desert.

Towards the end of the day I reunited with Helene, a French lady who I had previously met, and Heidi from Australia. We walked and talked together and I thought I would go with them to the monastery donativo shelter in the next town. This was a great decision. There were American ladies running the shelter and they were so friendly. I didn’t get any pictures of the place but we had a great time making dinner together and playing music around the table outside after a long 37km walk.