I was hoping to have an easy morning in Astorga to check out the famous Chocolate Museum and also another Gaudi building (the Episcopal Palace which is now a “Museum of the Caminos”) but for some reason they are both closed on Mondays!

So I hoofed it out if town and up in to the mountains! I am now out of the Meseta and into the region called Maragateria. I took an optional side path to the town of “Castrillo de las Polvazares,” which was described in my book as the jewel of this region. And it was worth the trip; all of the buildings, roofs, roads, everything in town was made of beautiful red stone and red mortar, with wooden doors painted green. A very sweet, quiet place.

And then into the foothills and then further up into the mountains. I did not realize how much I have missed being in the mountains; my Green Mountains are calling me! But these are lovely too. Mount Acebo is over 1,000 meters high. Before that peak is the Iron Cross, where pilgrims have been bringing physical stones to deposit, symbolizing their burdens that they bring before God and give up to the Way. Before the cross was installed in the 11th century rumor is the site was dedicated to the Roman god Apollo.