Diary entries of an Authentic Journeys pilgrim
Monday, May 18
And we begin the Camino. Juan Carlos had arranged for a thermal spa to open just for our group, which was delightful. Ahhhhh…rejuvenation. We then stayed at a beautiful first class spa hotel in Astorga.
Tuesday, May 19
It’s 8:45am and we are off to Cruz de Ferro, the Iron Cross. It’s a giant cross where pilgrims on the Camino leave rocks, stones, and notes to lay down their burdens, as it were. There was beautiful scenery today, colorful wild flowers, red poppies, purple lavender, yellow and white flowers, and mountains in the background. We had lunch at the most charming little place in Molinaseca. This is the place to order fish! The seasonings are just right. We then arrived at our hotel, it’s a winery! Quite beautiful, we had a group winery tour and talk.
Wednesday May 20
We had a nice morning of walking through small towns and vineyards. There were roosters crisscrossing the road and being “herded” by a woman in an apron and the cats sitting by the side of the road in a diagonal line just stating at us, two were jet black with green eyes. There were lush green vineyards everywhere, with one striking fairy tale house set into the hills.
Thursday May 21
Adios to the Palacio de Canedo. Good place for r&r for a few days. There were lots of wild flowers dotting the hillsides in deep purples, blues, yellows, and whites. After our walk we drove to our home for the night, an incredible 300 year old country home with beautiful grounds, stone mill, “ye olde swimming hole” carved out of the river and separated from it by stone platform like walkway, a pool, and two sweet dogs. We got a tour of the mill and river.The grounds are simply gorgeous and there are lots of little rooms beckoning you in to just sit and relax.