Page 68 - Demo

The attractive Plaza Espa%u00f1a main square just south of the catheral is built over the 2,000 year ancient Roman forum and has an elegant Baroque facade. Sadly the Chocolate Museum was also closed. Apparently the town claims to be called Europe's 'home of chocolate' as the cocoa bean was brought back from the Americas by Hern%u00e1n Cort%u00e9s.We stopped for fuel at Villaman%u00edn as we were getting low and most villages had no petrol stations.We continued on through Sorribos de Alba, La Magdalena, Soto y Am%u00edo, Oterico, La Velilla, Trascastro, and the T junction near La Garandilla. We followed the winding road to Escuredo, Mirador de La Cepeda, Villarmeriel, Quintana del Castillo, Abano, Sueros de Cepeda, Castrillo de Cepeda, Villamejil, Cogorderos, Quintana de Fon, Fontoria de Cepeda, La Carrera de Otero, Quintana de Fon, Fontoria de Cepeda, La Carrera de Otero, Sope%u00f1a de Carneros, and Carneros.Astorga (Pop 24,700)Very little was open, and those cafes nearby that were, were jam-packed with pilgrim bus tourers. So we raided a supermarket and had a picnic in the nice gardens next to the Palace and the old Roman town wall. We passed heaps of pilgrims walking the Camino Santiago trail towards Astorga. Day 30 - Tuesday 07/10/2025 - Oviedo to Ponferrada to Astorga to Le%u00f3n (Continued)We continued on to El Tueiro Tunnel, Villasimpliz, Tunnel De la Gotera, La Vid de Gord%u00f3n, Ci%u00f1era, Santa Luc%u00eda de Gord%u00f3n, and Vega de Gord%u00f3n. Especially interesting were the jagged rock formations at La Pola de Gord%u00f3n, La Pola De Gord%u00f3n 1 Tunnel, La Pola De Gord%u00f3n 2 Tunnel, and the pretty Autumn colours at Puente de Alba. In Astorga we stopped to view Gaudi Palace. As we still had some time until check-in we drove west after La Robla to Riello, and then south, west and south again to Astorga, which is 45 minutes west of Le%u00f3n. We finally came to a flat plain with some dry countryside, not unlike Australia.This hilltop village has a picturesque setting, amid the plains of Castilla and the Mountains of Galicia. Despite its small size, Astorga has quite a few attractions, including a striking Astorga Episiscopal Palace designed by Gaud%u00ed a Gothic cathedral, and some Roman ruins. We walked around the outside of the famous Palace and cathedral. The drive from Astorga to Le%u00f3n was pretty straight forward. Google took us the back way to the centre of town. After some hair-raising roundabouts we dropped off the car at the Le%u00f3n train station and caught a 5 minute taxi to our hotel, as getting there through the maze of one-way very narrow streets was difficult.