San Justo de la Vega to Rabanol del Camino 23.2K Day 20

Today was a much better day....I had a new strategy....just stop at every damn bar along the way! Had our morning cafe con leche in Astorga, which is a beautiful city. Stopped for lunch at this cozy little albergue where we all enjoyed soup. This was our first day of rain which turned out to be a rather tranquil experience. The best part was finally getting to use all the raingear we have been toting around.

As we went a little farther along, Linda spotted this ´Cowboy Bar´that actually looked like something out of Mexico! She thought it would be smart to warm up a little. The locals were all playing poker and the pilgrims were mostly huddled around this little fire so we just went directly up to the bar. We asked the bar tender to get down the bottle of Amaretto so that we could have shots. He shook his head as if to say we shouldn´t be having shots in the middle of the day, but managed to get it down from on high. The dust was about an inch thick and he blew it off and then had to get a cloth to wipe the bottle down. When he couldn´t get the lid off because it was crusted on, I started to get a little nervous and insisted on smelling the contents. He seemed a touch surprised at my boldness. Surprisingly, the liquor smelled good and he proceeded with great flair to bang down the shot glasses and we responded with much hooting and hollering! After downing the first shot, a German Peregina shouted, ¨Ah, schnaps!¨ and wanted to get in on the fun so we had an ´otro´round. At this point the bartender decided that he was going to walk the Camino with me and give the keys to his shop to one of the locals. Much to my surprise I agreed (I just couldn´t pass up the opportunity to have someone carry my knapsack!) At this point, Elizabeth sprung into action and said that my husband was ´mui grande´ and ´mui fuerte´. The bartender replied, ¨No problemo¨and pulled from behind the bar a giant machete which he began brandishing around. At this point we decided we had best leave the Cowboy Bar. We laughed for the rest of the day!

We then had an amazing walk through a pine and oak forest with the reddest soil I have ever seen. Once again there were kilometers of wire fencing covered with crosses made by pilgrims and again I could feel the energy rising up from the earth and the ancient stones embedded in the path.

Decided that we would take in the Gregorian Chants at the local church. Everything was great until right at the end. As the clerics turned to address the cross and we all stood up together, Elizabeth´s earplug fell out of her pocket and rolled right over beside the monk. The local parish women, who knew every Latin word of the whole service, were quite upset and trying to protect their dear monk...first raised their eyebrows at each other and pointed to the ´offending object´. Not knowing what it was, one brave soul took a hankie from her purse, walked over and plucked it from the floor. Elizabeth, with dramatic hand signs, opened her purse and pointed for the object to be transferred. With fingers in her ears, she said, ¨Por el albergue¨. The chicas giggled about this into the wee hours of the morning.

Had a very yummy pilgrim meal to celebrate our last night with Judy, who is going back home tomorrow. We were grateful for her reflection and will miss her so much!