Camino Day 29: Hospital de Orbigo to Murias de Rechivaldo

Date: April 29th, 2022

Distance: 22km/13.6 miles

Time: 5 1/2 hours (9:00am-2:30pm)

I headed off on my own after a coffee with the gang. I felt great this morning, and I was cruising along!

It was a beautiful morning in nature. Birds singing. Crossing little streams. Walking past little gardens and green fields. Baby cows! I was incredibly grateful to be off the busy road.

After about 8km, my first stop was a cute little donation based rest center with a stellar fruit and snack spread. I ate some fruits, cheese, crackers, and chocolate.

Around 13km in, the city of Astorga came into view, and that kept me motivated, along with my Yoga Girl podcast. I was in such a rhythm, I felt like I was gliding. At one point, I became more conscious of my breathing. Deep breaths in and out. Just breathing and walking.

Jacey and Casey (haha) had lunch and a sangria in Astorga. Then I put on my music and flew the rest of the way to Murias de Rechivaldo- another sleepy, stony town.

Its always blissful to arrive with the rest of the afternoon stretching ahead. Our albergue (Casa Flor) had a nice, grassy courtyard with tables and hammocks. I sat out in the sun and journaled. Laid in the grass. Stretched. Handwashed my laundry and hung it up on the line. Sat in a lawn chair and enjoyed wine and conversation with several others until our community dinner.

Enjoyed food and much more wine. Made paper airplanes and fortune cookies with our paper place mats. Chris, Frances, and I were deep in conversation, sharing favorite camino moments, until the albergue owners kicked us out of the dining room around 10:30pm.

We headed back to our 6 person room with 3 bunk beds- just enough to hold the whole squad… Tash, Frances, Nickie, Nuno, Chris, and myself. All my Camino people in one place.

Love this pilgrim life.