España Day 3: Hello Astorga

When you’re having a blast all sense of time is distorted, the hours and minutes speeding past and gone in the blink of an eye. Here were are on day three (already) of our most epic (and hectic) Spanish adventure and it seems like we only just arrived. This morning finds us in transit, a highway bus trip taking us from Madrid to our starting point for the El Camino de Santiago (Way of St James) trek, the charming town of Astorga. A start the following morning affords us a chance to wander this picturesque community and see the sights. Of course we find a cathedral – or maybe it finds us. Either way we’ve been touring our share and love it. So let’s get started!

1) A bittersweet moment, our very last look at Downtown Madrid from our hotel and this final picture. Loved our time here but the road calls. That flare! There’s a program that allows you add these to a photo in post for effect – it’s a thing right now – but for, us a cheap-ass lens does the trick. Left scratching my head on this effect being so trendy – but then again, we fell for that crazy supersaturated HDR thing some years back. I cringe looking at old photos. Next up a “Crazy Taxi” ride to the bus terminal.

2) One the bus to Astorga. Front seats too, lucky us. This almost feels like it was planned. Do our hosts know us that well – that we love to be out front and see the world? It’s AM and traffic’s barely moving (right) but we have our own lane and make good time. Take that commuters! We’re special!

3) Rather than go around the mountains they punch right through them.

4) The hills turns to prairie and it’s rural farms and small towns. Between communities with nothing but fields and flat off in every direction, it felt very Saskatchewan like. Here, one could easily believe the world isn’t round (but everyone knows it’s doughnut shaped). Here’s a couple Spanish style grain elevators for reference.

5) A build up of bugs, here we’re cruising across the Spanish Plain. That in song of which the rain falls mainly on. Except this day. It was clear as a bell.

1) And it’s goodbye Madrid. Ugly flare!

6) Stopping in some town, this here wall art. This building is on our introduction to modern Spanish abandonment, apartment flats built on speculation in the 2000s and never completed. They were everywhere.

7) The HIGHLIGHT of this trip a visit to the local Supermercado in Astorga and a great discovery. Praise be, wine here is cheap! We tried the under a Euro stuff (so $1.25-$1.50-ish CAD) and you know, it wasn’t the swill one might expect. In fact, it was rather good. Even the top shelf wine was a bargain.

8) Before dinner and a get together with our tour group, time to wander Astorga. Here, some street art depicting a subject you might see as something it isn’t. No, it’s not the KKK. These pointy hoods are called Capirotes and are worn at religious ceremonies.

9) Astorga Cathedral, or locally, La Catedral de Santa María de Astorga. They’re big into old and impressive churches in here. And we’re not complaining. We find them a most amazing photogenic subject.

10) Something about this bust creeps me out. There were lots here in this museum and all had a rather stern or sombre look, but this one for some reason did it for me.

11) Inside the Nave (main hall) all sorts of carvings and statues. There’s such a level of detail in these Spanish Churches and you can picture our minds exploding. Mostly we stand there in silence in that jaw-dropping look of awe. Then we spin around take in a new angle and repeat. And the hours fly by.

12) The work put into things is simply amazing.

13) From floor to ceiling. Our third Spanish Cathedral and we’re hooked. As they say, a picture’s worth a thousand words…enjoy this one.

14) A closer look way up there.

15) Lots of stained glass too. Masterful work! They spared nothing.

16) Turn this way – wow – then that – double wow. Everywhere it’s a visual treat. But remember, this is a working church so respect those who’ve come to pray. Speak softly, keep a distance and no flash or tripods. An unobtrusive street style camera works well here – be sure to have one that can handle high ISOs or has a fast lens. The little old ladies with their rosaries will thank you for showing respect.

2) Hitting the road…

17) In the soft glow, a most peaceful and serene scene. It’s easy to get caught up in the beauty of it all and be overwhelmed. That’s us.

18) This date stone reads 1548 and was placed part way into construction. Astorga Cathedral was started in the late 1400s and was not completed till sometime in the 1700s. Talk about a loooong project! Other Cathedrals visited this trip also took a couple hundred years to complete too – seems that’s the norm – but they are huge and elaborate. Prior to this one being built it’s said there was other churches on this same plot going back hundred of years more.

19) And on turning this way, the sheer majesty of it all never ends.

20) Back at our hotel to prepare for dinner. It’s there we’ll meet our guides and the group we’ll be hanging with for the next week and a bit, fine people all. So liked the hall leading to our room.

21) Walking off a most amazing meal. Fantastic food would be a hallmark of this trip and we ate like kings. If not for the El Camino hike, we’d have all ballooned in size.

22) In old town Astorga the lanes seems to snake this way and that. Here’s a place we found down some side street. Even the simple houses had character.

23) Seems no matter which lane you picked, however, it would eventually lead back to the Cathedral.

24) As the day ends, this warm glow. A super-wide lens is needed here to get it all in.

25) Each tower is different in colour. The left most was rebuilt in the early 1900s after an earthquake some century and a half earlier, the stone coming from a different quarry than the original. It’s most noticeable in softer light and can be quite pronounced. I think it only adds to the allure…a beautiful imperfection.

26) And what’s that beside the Astorga Cathedral? There, on the right?

27) Thought you’d never ask. It’s Palacio Episcopal or Episcopal Palace completed in the 1910s having taken many, many decades to build. Construction projects in Spain, in the old days, were long and drawn out affairs account the elaborate style of architecture*. This building was once a residence for a Bishop (how humble) but today is a museum dedicated to the El Camino Trail. We lacked time to visit – oh, we’d say that a lot. For everything we documented in Spain there was a million other things and places we had to pass by account a shortage of time. Still, what a building!

28) Little felines which we saw a lot of in Spain, these teeny-weeny Adults that look like kittens. And to the left, the Wall of Astorga, dating back well over a thousand years, as far back as the 200s in fact (yes, the third century!) and once used to protect the community.

3) Into the bowels of the earth.

29) Nothing here, and I mean nothing, is plain in design. Some might call Spanish architecture busy or over the top, but we call it heaven. The craftsmanship that went into near every building.

30) The town comes alive at night (it’s a Spanish thing). Here’s the Plaza de España and in back is Ayuntamiento de Astorga, the town hall from the 1600s. There’s so much old stuff out this way that I began to worry I’d be jaded on returning to Canada. Turns out I wasn’t. With sleep calling, this is the only picture we got of it this most interesting building. We need to go back to see it and the many other historic buildings in town and in the area – and don’t get me started about the old railway steam workshops, empty and vacant now, we had an invite to explore but ran out of time. Missing out become a pattern this trip and that one hurt.

31) Casa de Tepa, our crash pad for the night. For someone so used to dive accommodations staying at fine hotels such as this, and it was amazing and so was every other we’d see this trip, well, it was a bit odd. A square peg/round hole thing – we didn’t seem to fit in. But hey, no complaints and we so enjoyed it anyway.

32) A courtyard view as darkness falls. Feet up, a cocktail in hand (honour bar!), a soft breeze and a crispness to the air, bees buzzing about, crickets chirping, joyous sounds from the streets and cathedral bells chiming but a block away. To steal a line…just breathe. Maybe it’s just a regular day in Astorga, but for us, this is magic. Yup, it’s the stuff that’ll stick with you forever, a mere moment in time that stands out above others as something most amazing and special. Damn, we love this place. Damn, we love life.

Tomorrow, it’s feet in motion.

*Even today the trend, in regards to religious structures anyway, continues. There’s a cathedral in Barcelona Spain (same architect as the Episcopal Palace seen in this post, Gaudí) that’s been under construction since the 1880s that’s not expected to be completed for a few more decades yet.

More from the series…
Off The Beaten Path en España – touching down in Spain.
España Day 1 – Wandering Madrid – getting to know the city.
España Day 2 – Toledo Cathedral – the most impressive yet.
España Day 4 – Scruffy Peregrino – the walk begins!
España Day 5 – Up & Over – joy and love…
España Day 6 – Buen Camino – as though in a dream.
España Day 7: Lost & Loving It – don’t want it to end.
España Day 8: Walking the Cows – things seen and passed.
España Day 9-10: Santiago! – a chapter closed.
España Day 10: Evening in O Pindo – Peregrinos no more.
España Day 11: Porto de Quilmas – a “lazy” day.
España Day 12: Cabo Finisterre/Fisterra – the end of the world.
España Day 13: A Taste of Portugal – one final day.

Changing gears, orthodox churches…
Spaca Moskalyk Church.
Kopernick.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: June, 2018.
Location: Astorga Spain
Article references and thanks: TurismoAstorga.es, Catedral de Santa María de Astorga, Katrina & Grant LaRocque.

4) How they do grain elevators over here.

5) Across the Spanish Plain with no rain in sight.

6) A stop along the way.

7) We could get used to this.

8) Wandering the streets of Astorga.

9) La Catedral de Santa María de Astorga.

10) Of all the busts…

11) We make our way inside.

12) Such a level of detail.

13) A most impressive scene.

14) And up there at the top.

15) Stained glass everywhere.

16) At every turn it’s something impressive.

17) In the soft light…

18) That’s 1548.

19) And over there…

20) Hotel Hall view.

21) An after dinner walk, we’re back.

22) Found down some random lane.

23) All roads lead to salvation.

24) In the setting sun.

25) The towers differ.

26) Over there beside the Cathedral…

27) …It’s the Palacio Episcopal.

28) Guard kitties and the Wall of Astorga.

29) Spain is for lovers of architecture.

30) Evening at the Plaza de España.

31) For someone who frequents dive hotels…

32) Relaxing in the courtyard and tomorrow…we walk.