HELLO ST. JAMES,
On Sat. the 10th, I walked to Asturianos (16.9k). The walk was actually quite lovely; perfect walking weather, nice landscapes, and a number of small village's to go through (that, at least, had water). For the the first 3 1/2 k an elderly gentleman with a cane, was walking behind me to the first little village. He asked me if I was going to Santiago. After a couple of kilometers, I asked him if HE was going to Santiago, he laughed and said, basically, " too many kilometers, and too much up", with a hand motion to the sky. Asturianos was typical of the Sanabres Camino; main road with a shop, A bar, A pharmacy. Then up the hill into the village; A Church, and a Municipal Albergue- the one place to sleep (that no one knew where it was). Turns out: at the Sports Center (?), yeah, that's what I thought too. Big, empty building, 22 beds (but only 1 room open, with 8 beds). It had a bar in the sports center, open ALL day till 10 pm !!! So, food not a problem, which is always nice. Was joined by a man from Pa. (first American), an Italian lady, and lady from the UK (Clare). It's actually nice to have some company, even though we're not walking together. Had some potato croquetas (they're big here), with the Italian lady (she had, ironically, what looked like a horrible pizza. I have a "no pizza on Camino" guidline, but more on that in the next message). Did laundry, it rained like crazy for awhile, but it stopped in the morning. Didn't sleep so well again, but good enough. The next day was an extremely pleasant 14.5k into Puebla de Sanabria, the best town yet. More to come. Peace, fb.