Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Day 20: to Santa Catalina


What a day.

Last night was close to pilgrim perfection - we got a sung Buddhist blessing before a delicious communal veggie dinner and a great night's sleep. Even better there was a lazy muesli, toast and tea breakfast in my PJs - perfecto. I miss lazy mornings. (We realised afterwards this also meant a first alcohol-free day!).

Wrapped up in full waterproofs against the mizzle and showers we stomped the attractive small villages and fields to Astorga, a lovely-looking town with old squares, a nice cathedral and a lovely 'bishop's palace' designed by Gaudi.

We lunched in a bar - an important if minor point - and then headed out for 20k more. Ugh. After about 7k I demanded a coffee stop as I was really struggling, despite the lovely countryside. The nearest bar was nice, warm and, it turned out, also an albergue... At which point we decided to call it a day. 

Only one problem- as I went to check in I couldn't find my passport, nor my credential (pilgrim passport). After repeated and desperate searching of my possessions (damp waterproofs, damp under layers, entire backpack) I concluded it really had disappeared and my zipped inner pocket where I keep it was open. Bugger. Some friends showed up and hadn't seen it on the trail. Lost or stolen? Either way a bit of a pain.

We called last night's albergue - no sign of it. Called a taxi back to Astorga. Went into the lunchtime bar and started in my halting Spanish 'we were in here earlier, and...' 

'Yes!' Says the barman 'You were here, you were sat over there... And then you left!' ... And then he produces my passport. Phew.

Back in Santa Catalina we are relieved to settle in for the evening only 25 Euros the worse for the misadventure. We're a good few km short of where Gary ought to be (he's on a much tighter timeline than me) but what the hell. This bar serves sangria.




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