hospital de Orbigo to Astorga 31st March 2012

T Hospital de Orbigo To Astorga 23.500 steps on the stepometer the room was tiny in the 17th century hostel and was full of pilgrims but I slept soundly anyway and after waking up I pack everything together and walk out of town to where the path splits into two I take the left path and hit the flat open countryside, and I meet and walk with a young couple from America, it's a bit cold on my ears because the sun is just rising up over the horizon, after a few ks walking the path runs alongside the n120 road for a bit before heading right toward the village of Santibanez de Valdeiglesia which has a bar where I grab a coffee, here I was offered a. Cheese, ham and advacado sandwich lovingly made by the Americans.The path from this point heads up out of the village into a beautiful piece of countryside and then works its way through a forest of Holm oak and up to a high point where the cathedral at Astorga can be seen in the distance,it's now quite hot, I stop to have a drink and banana at a stall run by a really friendly Spanish man where everything's free and quality too.About another 5k on the path drops down and finally comes into Astorga a really picturesque small city with a beautiful cathedral and a museum built by Guadi the main square has an amazing ancient clock face and is stunning, the city even has a famous chocolate museum, mmmm yummy.the albergie I stay in is called San Javier just near the cathedral, the beds are clean, comfy and my feet get treated to a hot salt foot bath and then some attention by the resident nurse, I feel like I've landed in heaven on the Camino, I have a great nights sleep here.