Walking out the front gate of Viña Femita at 6:45.Villafranca del Bierzo is a charming, historic but well maintained town… even in the dark.a modern (1999) pilgrim statue on the bridge leaving Villafranca.color and silhouettes of Villafranca at first lightA new sidewalk for pilgrims has been added since our last Camino, making for a safer way up through the mountain gap.the new walk ended after half-a-mile at the junction of the secondary road and the auto viatunnel through the mountain to the leftthe Camino taking us along the national highway with a crash barrier for pilgrim protectionwinding our way through the gap along the national highway and occasional overpasses of the autovia.more of the same for most of this morning’s walk the gap is about 1500 feet below the surrounding mountains, but still around 1600 ft above sea level.The entrance to Perejé (pop. 39) suggested this small hamlet might have re-opened a favorite breakfast stop at the halfway point of the Villafranca to Trabadelo walk… which has been closed since the pandemic. The disappointment continued today as the cerrado (closed) sign was still on the front door and the chairs/tables across the street were still chained up, preventing use.the stacked logs tells us we are nearing the saw mill in Trabadelo and we walked among the 400 year old chestnut tree forest.walking into Trabadelo and our albergue dominance of both sides of the road.entrances of Bar/ restaurant/ albergerelatively new addition of private rooms and owner’s residenceview of our building from rearthe double windows on ground floor is our room, overlooking the poolinteriors of our double room, retro decor1950’s decor, typical of many Camino “habitacions”
Our first choice to stay in Trabadelo was Nova Ruta, a small hotel nearby where we have stayed the past 3 Caminos. However, it was booked when we were doing our planning in March, so Os Arroxos was our second choice.
Nevertheless, we had breakfast at Nova Ruta when we arrived in Trabadelo this morning and were immediately recognized by the owner of Nova Ruta. We explained why we were not staying with her and she understood. Jim asked if they still had pork cheeks on the menu and she confirmed and reserved a table for us for lunch.
1st Course at Nova Ruta: Ensalada Rusa2nd Course: Baked Chicken for Linda, Carillera (Iberian Pork Cheeks) for Jim
We enjoyed our meal, said farewell to our friends and headed back to our albergue/room and chilled for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
P.S.: The water in the pool was very chilly due to the 50F nights, so we decided not to indulge, inspite of it being right outside our room.
P.P.S: As the sun got hotter, Jim was eventually overcome with the temptation to take the plunge.
Jimandi 