Walking Day 11 – Villavante to Astorga – 20 km - 12.5 miles

The morning started clear and cool, with a dusting of frost on the fields.  It quickly warmed up as we started our walk.  I love Sunday mornings in Spain – it is especially quiet in the villages (they all stay up way past my bed time) and the only activity is around the church.

The earth has changed from brown to red, and the farms have changed from wheat fields to a variety of crops.  We are climbing now, up and out of the Meseta and into the hills of Galicia.  I’d been leaving my walking stick in the van while we traversed the flat lands and I was glad to have it with me today.

I walked past a man attempting to till his field with an old plow pulled by a burro.  The man was yelling a lot.  The mule feigned deafness. Further on, the trail went through a dairy farm, and this well-traveled nose noted that bovine manure smells about the same everywhere in the world.

I met the Buddha on the Camino this afternoon.  On a high ridge several miles out of Astorga, next to an old barn, there was David with his free-love pilgrim stop – La Casa Del Dios – the House of the Gods.  David is a young Spanish man who spends his days taking care of pilgrims.  He invites you to have a drink or a snack and a moment of rest in the shade – offering a variety of juice, water, coffee, fruit and cookies, asking only for a donation in return.  He gives all sorts of encouraging words and sends you on your way with a wave and a smile.  His heart was as big as the vista he looked out upon, and I was charmed and happy as I walked on.