Through Astorga to Palencia, Spain

On Monday, we headed further east from Molinaseca to Palencia, taking a route with a stop in the town of Astorga.

I've forgotten to include a map of our travels the last couple of weeks, so I'll include a map update below.

We tried to stay on the backroads, and as we were leaving Molinaseca, the road we took is one of the routes on the popular French Way of the Camino de Santiago pilgrim route.

Scenery along the way.

The the village of El Acebo.

Pilgrims.

We're often asked if we have thought about walking the Camino de Santiago. For those who don't know, the Camino de Santiago is a long distance walk of about 780 kms (484 miles) that is normally done over a period of about 30 days while staying in guest houses along the way.

Ruth would be more interested in doing it than me. My opinion is that if I'm going to do a long distance walk, there are better, more scenic walks elsewhere in the world. This popular French Way route follows along a lot of highways, sometimes even walking on the highway itself.

Also, the Camino de Santiago is far too popular for me. I prefer to do things that not everybody else is doing. If Ruth ever decides to do this walk, she'll be doing it without me.

A pilgrim walking the camino.

We stopped in Astorga just to take a driving break. We didn't realize that Astorga has a fantastic cathedral. It's too bad they charge €10 ($15.70 CAD, $11.40 USD) per person to view the inside. Not worth it for us. We have seen the inside of a lot of fantastic churches for free.

Astorga Cathedral.

Fancy main entrance.

Detail above the main entrance.

The side of the exterior.

Zoomed in on the detail at the top.

There is also a church designed by Antoni Gaudi.

Built between 1889 and 1913.

Mural.

This is where we sat and had lunch.

The city hall.

Astorga was part of the Roman empire 2,000 years ago.

The ruins of a Roman villa were found in the central area.

They believe this mosaic floor was built in the late 2nd century.

Amazing.

What they think the house might have looked like.

Pretty garden.

Views from Astorga.

The city wall reminds us of Avila.

It's quite impressive!

From Astorga to Palencia is quite dull scenery. 

Kind of reminds us of driving through Saskatchewan on the Trans Canada Highway!

Made it to our hotel right in downtown Palencia. The location is great, but of course the drawback is finding parking. We managed to get a spot at a large paid parking area that is cheap.

The room is quite fine, for €46 ($72 CAD, $52.50 USD) per night.

The facilities.

View out our window.

We wandered around the center only to look for somewhere to have dinner.

Interesting building.

Here is our approximate driving map since we left Madrid to where we are now in Palencia.

Today, we drive on to the little village of Fresno de Cantespino, located about 120 kms north of the Madrid Airport, with a stop in the town of Penafiel along the way.

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