León and Castile, Villar de Mazarife to Astorga, 20 miles. October 11

I had an internal debate about whether I should bring my bluetooth earphones. When I run or walk at home I always listen to music or an audio book to pass the time. Here, I wanted to go as light and low tech as possible and try to immerse myself in the Camino. However, some days have had many hours of walking alone and I'm now listening to a course on the history of Spain. It's really interesting to hear about different people and political entities that created Spain. Even today there seem to be lots of areas that want more identity, autonomy, or even independence (like Catalonia and Basque).

I'm currently walking through the autonomous region of León and Castile. There are clearly some people from the León region that don't like being tied to Castile. I have no idea why but see the graffiti every day. 

Morning road -

Through the town of Hospital del Orbigo -

The Spanish national flag -

A nice new reflective Camino direction sign  this one is unusual in that the"Castile Y León" is still in tact -

This one is more typical -

And the graffiti, meaning León alone -

A village house -

There's more forest on the trail now -

A trail stop -

To eat a tomato -

Coming into Astorga -

The Gaudi Palace in Astorga -

Today's walk -