Days 20-21 Villar de Mazarife > Murias de Rechival

Yesterday I walked only 16 kilometers and decided to call it a day in Hospital de Órbigo around 11AM. Too much rain - I was drenched and completely frozen, which didn't exactly help my cough. But I wanted to stay at this hostel anyhow, because they have a reputation for doing such nice painting workshops, which I just had to attend of course. This place had a really cosy atmosphere, with the manager burning incense and playing christmas songs, and with various paintings by other pilgrims on the walls. They had a fire going, allowing me do dry, and I got some hot soup and ate an orange. Didn't help my sickness much though, but I felt much better after I'd gotten some sleep. Painted a pilgrim moving toward a big stained-glass window. The others liked my painting very much. There were about 15 people here, 10 of whom were Dutch. The manager poured glasses of wine for frozen new arrivals. Such a great place!

Went to a drug store to get some antibiotics and some mucus solvent. The chemist advised me to stay inside for a few days, but that's not really an option in my situation. The medicine already helped a lot though, and so did the painting session - Gave me a real energy boost. Meanwhile, my toe appears to have healed nicely and is no longer bugging me.

I meet so many interesting people on this trip. There were two South-African women whose native tongue was very easy for me to understand - which couldn't be said of the reverse, unfortunately, so they switched to Queen's English. I met a German guy who had lived in the Netherlands for 10 months and wanted to speak Dutch to improve his skills, I spoke German to him to improve mine, and we spoke English with others. And there was this student from Argentina who was ever so proud his country had provided a new pope and a new queen in the same year. I passed on a warm vest I had found in Roncesvalles to a Korean girl who was still freezing under three layers of clothing.

Today I covered around 14 miles (22 kilometers) to Murias de Rechivaldo where I'll most likely be staying at the general municipal refugio. I feel great and have lots of energy, which is probably partly thanks to all the drugs I took this morning. I walked through the city of Astorga and past the bishop's palace designed by Gaudí. It's a museum now and since the doorman wasn't paying attention I just walked in to take a peek. I'd seen about three rooms before he came to get me, and that was more than enough. They have loads and loads of St Jacob figurines in different materials (and missing various body parts), shells and other Camino-related stuff. I can see all that on the road :)

I've now definitely passed the meseta. The terrain is starting to get more uneven as I go and I can already see the next major mountain range up ahead. They should prove the same kind of ordeal as the pass through the Pyrenees - I can tell there's still snow on top. I wonder if there's a way _under_ the mountain, like in some stories... :)

I have a new addicition: a local beverage called Café con leche ("coffee with milk"). I don't usually drink coffee as I think the varieties back home are slightly repulsive, but this is so good! It's kept me going so far :)