“Do you know the origin of that word ‘saunter?’ It’s a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, “A la sainte terre,’ ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.” John Muir. AS IS THE CAMINO!
A punctual departure from Astorga, without breakfast, though each one had a snack and a drink of some kind. Christina even had a ready made paper carton of cafe latte!
Once again I am indebted to Val & Christina for sharing photos, far superior to mine.
We anticipated walking about 5 Km to our breakfast coffee stop.
We walked through SANTA CATALINA then EL GANSO, peaceful, pretty villages – red roses do well here.
We reached here at 13.00, five hours walking and two 30 minute breaks en route. A good start,blessed with fine weather. We had anticipated rain which came later than expected at 16.45 and expected to continue overnight. The forecast for Sunday is dry with sunny periods – if that turns out to be the case we shall be blessed again as we have a couple of challenging climbs to make.
ensuitepilgrim's Blog 
Great photos! 👍🏼