Astorga to Rabanal del Camino. Distance 20.6 km (12.8 mi / 12.5 ) to go241.4 km

When last we heard from our hero he had just walked nearly 20 miles only to find a locked door at his hotel, and a sign in the window explaining they were "completo"!

And, as is usually the case with cliff hangers, this one is sure to disappoint.

I rang the bell and someone opened the door, allowing me to enter!

Now you have to ask yourself, was that worth the wait?

The young lady at the front desk didn't speak a word of English and used the app on her phone to translate the little bit of information she had to share. The funny part was the check-in procedure.

She asked for my passport (standard procedure has been to produce both your pilgrim passport and your U.S. Passport) and also asked another couple whom had just arrived for the same.

She pulled out her phone and calls someone, saying something in Spanish and, as the person on the other end begins to answer (on speaker phone), she hangs up.

With all six passports (3 people X 2 documents per) laying out on the front desk, she indicated that we (all 3 of us) were to follow her. We climbed the stairs to the first floor where we were shown a small dining area. 

"Mañana! Siete a diez", followed by a group scurry up another flight of stairs.

She then talks into her phone and pushes a button.

"This room is if you get thirsty and want milk" explained the male interpreter. 

Scurry up another flight of stairs, open the door to room 301 and I'm handed the key.

Then she pushes the other two across the hall to 302 and begins showing them their room.

All this time my mind is on my passport laying on the unattended desk downstairs, with visions of TSA agents busting down the door dancing in my head.

"Freeze sucka! You were told to never let your passport out of your sight!"

Eventually I went downstairs to get my pack and Frederico, then returned to the breakfast room where I was reunited with my passport. Ironically, I asked where to return the key in the morning and was told to bring it to breakfast.

I say ironically, because when I left this morning, I forgot to drop off the key! I was 10 miles down the road by the time I realized the heavy brick in my pocket was key 301 from El Descanso de Wendy! A strange aside on that tale is that when I talked to Alicia this afternoon she said she had received an e-mail from Booking.com, in Spanish! I wonder what that's all about?

The trail today could best be described as varied. Each time I took a picture to pictorially describe it, the terrain changed.

A very poor picture showing about eight peregrinos ahead of me as we headed out of town on wet streets, but without being rained on.

Shortly outside of Astorga

A short time later

The Way was quite wet, with large puddles frequently obscuring the path. For much of the day however, there was a parallel path (The Way, the sequel?) which was often drier.

Today was a much shorter day than yesterday (12 miles instead of 20)! 

A couple of days ago I had commented to Alicia that it seemed I had fallen in with a group of non-English speaking pilgrims. You see, then resee, many of the same people all day, but when no one speaks your language it becomes work to put the miles behind you.

That changed yesterday when I fell into the "Aussie Zone"! I walked and talked with Amy and Natalis (?), her new Camino friend, both from Australia, although opposite ends of the country. They had been walking together for about four days and I suspect, had formed a friendship that will outlive the Camino.

Then there was the couple at the restaurant who had taken off their shoes. And another Aussie who was traveling alone and said she had not met anyone from Australia yet.

Today was again different. On the way out of Astorga I saw a young lady who had pulled up her collar and tucked her hands inside the end of her sleeves. When told she looked cold she said she hadn't been warm since she left St. Jean! We began to chat as we walked and I found out her name was Lindsey, a manager of the only gluten-free brewery in Seattle (micro-brews are all the rage there). She was hurrying to Santiago because she wanted to finish on June 11th, her thirtieth birthday. When she heard I was from Idaho she was floored. She had not yet met anyone from Idaho and was born and raised in Greenleaf, just west of Caldwell/Nampa outside of Boise.

We talked for half the morning, until we came to a bar where we stopped for breakfast.

I had a coffee Americana and an orange juice, but saw nothing interesting on the menu. She, on the other hand, ordered a bowl of lentil soup, the largest bowl of soup I have ever seen!

I had explained to her that Betty had kept me dry thus far and told her that I felt I needed to get going as she could only hold back the rain for so long. So we parted with the usual "Buen Camino" and I walked outside, where it was pouring down rain. I went back inside and told Lindsey I was too late and Betty had allowed the rain to start. She laughed as I put my raincoat on and walked out again. Within about 50 yards, the rain ceased!

A very short time later I came to another bar where, still hungry, I sought breakfast again. Sitting on the veranda was Mel, a young lady from Germany that had been introduced to me by Liz (from Maine) several days ago at an albergue. We had seen each other several times since but had never had a chance to walk together so we could talk. She speaks English effortlessly.

This place also had nothing solid that looked good so, after downing an orange juice, Mel and I took off and walked the remainder of the way to Rabanal, talking all the way. She walks the Camino looking for clarity in her life. She is writing her Bachelors thesis in Psychology and is thinking about doing social work, but not sure what aspect to pursue. 

We discussed different social programs, including how our respective countries handled social security, unemployment, minimum wage jobs and so forth, as well as volunteer programs. We soon found ourselves coming into Rabana where I had hotel reservations (courtesy of my loving wife). She had originally thought she'd spend the night in Rabana, as the guide books recommended, but as we had heard from several people earlier, tomorrow is Cruz de Ferro and it can get quite crowded as the tour buses make it a stop for their passengers. An early start was one way to beat the crowd. Walking another 5 km was another recommendation we heard. She thought she'd do both as she did not want to be crowded at Cruz de Ferro. We had discussed how this was one of what we both expected to be a highlight of the Camino.

So she was stopping at a market to look for snacks and I was going ahead in search of Posada de Graspar, my accommodations for the night. Buen Camino Mel, I imagine we will see each other further down the road!

A story about Mel(anie):

I had seen her several times along the route (she has a very loud pattern on her pants and is easy to spot) but was first introduced to her at the albergue in Boadilla del Camino. A large group of people (30?) gathered around three large tables for dinner and I ended up sitting next to Liz (from Portland, Maine) who had been hiking with Mel and invited her to sit across from me. During the conversation Liz announced that it was Mel's birthday (she was turning 26), so I suggested that we sing Happy Birthday to her. Next to Mel was a couple from Sweden, next to me people from France, next to them was a young lady from Thailand, behind her a group of Koreans and Japanese.

As we started to sing everyone joined in, most not even realizing who the subject of the merriment was. After we finished, she was truly embarrassed but joyful. The conversation then began about the song, and that apparently every nation used the tune with their native language squeezed into the notes of each line. Mel mentioned that in her native Germany they also have another birthday song and, at our request, she sang it and was joined by a few other German speaking people at other tables. 

It was then that the French couple sang their song, the Swedes theirs, and, each in their turn, sang whatever song was used in their native land. It was a joyous occasion as is probably only seen at the U.N. To top it off, some Camino friends of Mel's who were somewhere ahead of her, had spelled out "Happy", "Birthday", and "Mel" in stones on the trail, taken pictures and e-mailed them to her! A birthday that the young lady will not soon forget!

The Posada is on the Camino so even I had no difficulty finding it! A beautiful room with a tub allowed me to soak for a half hour in wonderfully warm water before I conversed with my Gracie.

She was preparing for a trip to the north of Chicago, to Beloit, Wisconsin where we were both born raised and recently reunited after 50 years! She is spending the weekend with her good friends, also from our High School class, on a Girl Friend Weekend! I hope they have a fabulous time! And I did want to say to Lynn and Sally that, if Steve and Bill feel left out they can come and walk with me this weekend. It'll be like playing 36 holes with Sergio Garcia!

I wonder if I should start a collection?

Keep your left elbow bent this weekend my dear, and enjoy yourself!