Month: October 2016

We left beautiful Molinasca and walked to Ponferrada which is a good size city.  The highlight of Ponferrada was the Templar Castle which, unfortunately, was closed.  As we walked up to the entrance a peregrino called out to us “good luck storming the castle!”  He then laughed and said, “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

We visited the Church which had this pretty stained glass window of a pilgrim.

As we walked away from the church we met Robert and Glynnis on a bridge.  Robert had just taken a picture of a couple people fly fishing and dropped his trekking pole off the bridge onto a steep cliff ivy.  When he said he was going to climb down and get it we really didn’t want to believe it.  We started to leave but just couldn’t until we saw him make it back safely, which he did.

The walk was very scenic once we left the city.  After walking about 25 k we arrived at our Albergue where we met Peter, a very strange young man who has been walking the Camino for 3 years.

We had another vegetarian dinner and both slept on the top bunk which were very high!

Camino Fun fact: A can of Aquarius (lemon drink) costs 2 euros but a glass of wine costs 80 cents.  I love this country.

We walked 20.3 k or 12.6 mikes today.  It was one of the  most picturesque days we’ve had on the Camino and also one of the more challenging walks. We started with an uphill climb  to the Cruz de Ferro.  This monument has become an iconic image of the Camino.  It’s a simple iron cross where pilgrims add a stone or other token of love or blessing to the pile.  We added a simple stone from our vegetable garden at home. That’s me at top leaving our stone.

Next to the cross is a stone chapel.

We arrived early enough to see the sunrise behind the cross. It was really beautiful.

The rest of the walk was in the mountains.  The views were beautiful but it was difficult to look around to see them because the mostly steep downhill walk was so treacherous we didn’t dare take our eyes off the ground.

We stopped in Acebo for an early lunch.  It was such a pretty village.

Finally, we arrived at our destination Molinasca and the village is beautiful.

Camino Fun Fact:  If you walk into an Albergue and there are a group of men sitting in common areas in their underwear they are French. 🙂

 

We woke to 35 degree temperatures and had to layer on our clothes (practically all of our clothes).  This is Tom using socks as gloves and his buff as a hat. By early afternoon it was in the 70’s again.

We’re back in the mountains so the walk was a gradual uphill grade for most of the day.  We ran into these guys and their burros who didn’t mind posing for a photo but then asked for money to feed them.  It felt like Times Square.

We then met a knight of the Templar who introduced me to his falcon, Julie.  Yes, Julie. It was very cool holding her.

The terrain then became very challenging – all uphill for 6 kilometers until we reached Foncebadon.  We stayed in a former convent that was converted to an Albergue and hotel.  We were booked for 2 beds in the Albergue but they gave us a private room for the same price.  It was great having our own bathroom.

Camino fun fact: Many of the bathrooms and showers in the albergue are communal, shared by men and women.  The individual stalls are private so it’s really not a big deal.

 

 

Our stay at Albergue Verde was really special.  It’s a “green” Albergue with a real Bohemian feel.  They had their own vegetable garden and greenhouse.  Our dinner was vegetarian but we snuck in ham and cheese for lunch.  We were with Glynnis and Robert from South Africa and Jean Marie from France.

Before dinner we all took a yoga class to stretch out our sore muscles and joints. Yes, this included Tom, too!

This Albergue is so popular with volunteers there were 12 volunteers for 28 pilgrims.  As a result they erected a yurt for thr volunteers to sleep in.

We were serenaded before a really nice dinner and then Bryson from Canada also played guitar and sang a few songs.

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Our walk on October 6th was 22 k or 13.6 miles.  Tom has a blister on his heal that he got on our rest day in Leon so we treated it and hope it doesn’t get worse tomorrow.

We stayed in a really nice albergue with a very pretty courtyard where we relaxed before dinner.

Dinner was vegetarian again and delicious.  The first course was pea soup and each serving dish read “Buen”, “Camino” or had the iconic arrow.  The second course was an amazing vegetable lasagna.

 

Today we were up with the roosters and walked 16 k (10 miles) bringing our total to 510.9 k or 317.4 miles so far.  We got to see another beautiful sunrise.

The highlight of the walk was this medieval bridge.  Along side (where it looks like sand) they have jousting contests in the summer.

 

We’re staying at a very nice albergue tonight. Really

More tomorrow.

Today we went to Villar de Mazarife and checked into Casa de Jesus. We saw Brock and Sue from Austraila who had already checked in there as well. I took one look at the room  and said “this will not be good”.  I wanted to show you a picture of the room but we thought it would scare the kids reading this blog (by kids I mean Drew and Xander since I know our kids aren’t reading this)  There were a lot of sleazy looking people around, I’m pretty sure even Jesus wouldn’t stay here even if it was the only room in town.

We took a walk to go to a shop in town  and I saw another albergue and I stopped in to see what that looked liked and it was a whole lot better than that prison chamber that we checked into earlier.  I booked the  room and then sneaked out the back door of the prison chamber with our backpacks.

We were relaxing on a chaise lounge with a beer on the front lawn of the new albergue when we saw Brock and Sue from Austrailia strolled  by.  They came over and told us that they thought Casa de Jesus was horrific but because  we were  staying there, maybe it can’t be that bad.   We felt bad that we deserted them but I thank God (and Jesus) that I didn’t have to sleep in Casa de Jesus.

A group of us (Austrailians, South Africans, and New Mexicans) then went to the local bar in town and had a great time. We left around 19:00 to have a great meal (paella) at our new albergue. Brock and Sue stayed at the bar because they were afraid to go back to  their own room at Casa de Jesus. I think their plan was to get as drunk as possible before heading  back to their house of horror (sadly there isn’t enough wine in the world to give them any level of comfort).

Hasta Winebago.

We arrived in Leon (big city) today after a short 18 kilometer day (11+ miles). We met people we haven’t seen in awhile, which was fun.

We arrived in Leon on the second day of a 5 day San Froilan festival.  The place was full of people enjoying the festivities.

 

We visited the Cathedral of Leon. It was spectacular. The pictures don’t even come close to showing the grandeur of this wonderful place. The stained glass windows were breathtaking.

We are going to enjoy our day tomorrow by resting and enjoying more of the festival. Hasta luego.

 

We can’t believe it’s October already!  We’ve been very lucky with the weather, even in the Meseta it’s been chilly in the morning and mid 70’s in the afternoon.

Today we had to wait until 7 am for breakfast and carry food and water because there would be nothing available for almost 20 kilometers.  We had cheese and crackers by the roadside while we gave our feet a rest.

We walked through fields of wheat and corn for another 25 k until we finally arrived at Reliegos and the Elvis Bar. This somewhat famous bar has a character for an owner, great music and anot interesting atmosphere.  There are markers on the counter and you can leave your mark if you choose.  My favorite was Carpe Diem.

We had the great surprise of running into several people we haven’t seen in a while.  It was really nice to catch up with them.

Tomorrow we’re in Leon and have a much needed day of rest planned.