Category: Camino 2019

Walked today: 7.2 miles

Walked Camino 2019: 318.2 miles

The skies looked threatening and our weather app said rain in 10 minutes, so we prudently put on our rain gear before leaving the hostal and walking through Trabadelo.

The paved road through the village continued for a half mile or so

and then rejoined the crash barrier walkway again.

We stopped for breakfast at a huge truck stop and hotel complex, took off our rain gear as blue skies appeared, then walked through Portela de Valcarce (pop. 37).

We stopped for a brief visit and photo of a small church.

We also took a photo of some lookalike statues that we”ll try to duplicate and mount on our driveway back home.

We walked through the villages of Ambesmestas (pop. 46) and the fairly large town of Vega de Valcarce (pop. 703). A shop in Vega had Camino handcrafts of every kind you could imagine for sale, but we kept walking realizing anything we bought, we would have to wear or carry.

The further we walked,

the more lush the landscape became with streams, green meadows and the approaching mountains of Galícia.

We finally reached Las Herrerias (pop.44), our destination for the night.

This small village is literally at the end of the road, which becomes a path through the forest, then a steep “wash” up the side of the mountain, then a path again, climbing up the side of the mountain until it reaches the top, some 4 miles later at La Faba and finally, O Cebreíro. We know this, because we did it in 2017.

As soon as we arrived the clouds moved down the mountain and a light drizzle, cool wind and dreary sky forced us indoors for most of the day.

We had a menu of the day in the dining room at 1:00, all to ourselves, save for a late arriving pilgrim cyclist. We then retired to our room and tried to keep warm and dry for the rest of the day.

Walked today: 5.6 miles

Walked Camino 2019: 311.0 miles

We walked out of our hotel just before sunrise on a road that worked its way through a gap in the mountains surrounding Villafranca.

A few minutes later we looked back toward Villafranca into another beautiful sunrise.

We continued to wind through the Valcarce Río valley, sharing our paved walkway with the winding national highway and the occasional overpasses of the A6 autovia. We seldom were distracted by road traffic because there was little of it. We also got an occasional glimpse of the Valcarce Río, among the thick green trees and undergrowth below us on the left.

We stopped in the hamlet of Perejé (pop. 39) for breakfast.

We are nearly always pleasantly surprised whenever we enter these diamond-in-the-rough small businesses along the Camino, 

that cater almost exclusively to pilgrims.

We rejoined the crash-barrier walkway along the highway to Trabadelo.

just before Trabadelo

We left the main road and began walking on a paved surface into Trabadelo passing several stacks of aging logs and more cut lumber either aging or awaiting pickup for places unknown and finally we walked by the lumber mill.

We remember walking by this mill in 2017 and thinking of Timothy as we did again today.

Our hostal was located on the Rió Valcarce just across from the mill. We have a perfect view of the opposite side of the mill from our room balcony.

Our room is very nice with a huge, modern shower… and a baby bed!!! (which thankfully we won’t need)

all for 50€.

After checking in, completing our chores and making a couple of reservations, we had a delicious lunch in the hotel dining room.

Linda’s soup was a very flavorful broth and noodles and Jim’s was Caldo Gallego (white beans, turnips, potatoes, collards, ham, pork, choriso)

Our main course was potatoes, roasted peppers and Carrilleras (beef cheeks marinated in red wine sauce) which was delicious and literally melted in your mouth.

For dessert… … we had natillas (custard) which was also very tasty all complimented by a Bierzo Mencía red wine.

Having satisfied our appetites and completed our chores for the day, we retired to our comfortable room for reading and blogging until the end of another wonderful day on Camino 2019.

Walked today: 5.2 miles

Walked Camino 2019: 305.4 miles

We stopped for breakfast at Hostal/Restaurant Siglo XIX, the same place we had the delicious dinner yesterday. It’s hard to stand out with cafe con leche and tostadas, but they worked at it.

They even threw in some complimentary churros. All for a total of 5€! If you are ever in Cacabelos, we highly recommend Siglo XIX.

On the way out of Cacabelos, we saw several unusual paintings on the walls.

which for now will have to go unexplained.

On the edge of town was the Santuario de las Angustias with an unusual albergue surrounding it.

behind each door is a cabin with two twin beds

We walked on sidewalks to the edge of town

…then walked on a dirt path along the highway

For most of the way we were surrounded by vineyards. Linda said the area reminded her of Napa Valley.

Harvesting the grapes was underway as we walked by workers clipping the bunches of ripe grapes from the vines.

We walked among the vineyards for a while then joined a downhill secondary road feeding into Villafranca del Bierzo (pop. 3,505).

We walked by the Iglesia de Santiago

with its Puerto del Pardon whereby if a pilgrim was too sick to make it to Santiago, he could walk through the Puerto de Pardon and receive the same indulgences as if he had walked all the way to Santiago.

We walked past the Castile

then on into a plaza where we stopped for a second CCL before walking across the pilgrim bridge to the edge of town to Hostal Mendez (44€) our destination for the day.

Our room wasn’t ready at 10:45 (duh), so we ventured back into town to search for some just-in-case-it-gets-cold extra pair of long pants for Linda. But when you are on the Camino you lose all track of time, so we were looking for an open store on Sunday morning. The half mile walk back to town center was fruitless and the walk back to our hotel made it a 6.2 mile day instead of a 5.2 mile day.

Our room was ready when we got back and Linda’s backpack via Jacotrans was waiting for us, so we did our chores, then headed back to town (where the main eateries were) for lunch.

We had pizza for lunch and while we waited, we ordered 4 glasses of 4 different white wines all grown and processed within a few miles from here. After careful tasting, scoring and ranking the four wines, we concluded that while these were all good, we much prefer red wines.

After two delicious pizzas and our wine tasting, we walked back to our room, making this a 7.2 mile day, and settled into our room for the rest of the day.

And did we mention we are on the 3rd floor, which is 4 levels above ground and that wifi above second floor is non-existent? So simple tasks such as blog uploads, checking mail, etc are a real burden not to mention climbing up and down stairs.

Another great day on the Camino Frances.

Walked today: 8.2 miles

Walked Camino 2019: 300.2 miles

There are two Camino routes through Ponferrada, the one which is “recomnended” that goes around the city, which we walked in 2015 and 2017 and the route through the city, which we took today.

We thoroughly enjoyed the walk through the city.

We made a left turn a few blocks from the hotel and began walking in none other than, Calle (street) Camino de Santiago.

Calle Camino de Santiago was straight, no turns, until it merged with the other Camino route some 5 miles later.

The walk was very pleasant with wide sidewalks on both sides of the road. We passed attractive, architecturally diverse, residential communities unlike we have seen anywhere in Spain, on or off the Camino.

We stopped in the suburb of Fuentes Nuevas in a very nice bar next to a children’s park, Parque de Pablo Picasso, and had breakfast.

Up to this point we had seen very few pilgrims on the “non-recommended” route.

We continued into the town of Camponaraya, where the two Camino routes merged and stopped for a second CCL. We then walked through the older part of the village and the pilgrim traffic increased dramatically.

This morning we became more aware of the Bierzo region with its temperate microclimate, ideal for viticulture. The scenery is green with vineyards. The mountains of Galicia loom ahead.

Located in the northwest corner of Castile and León, bordering Galicia, Bierzo is known especially for it’s unique Mencía grapes, a relatively new variety and the resulting wines that have been gaining in importance in the wine world.

We walked among the vineyards for a few miles before entering the town of Cacabelos (pop. 5,495).

This is our third visit to this charming Camino town, that in Roman times served as an administration center for gold mining.

We staying in Hostal La Gallega (46€).

We had our meal for the day at lunch. It was delicious. First course was gazpacho for Jim and Lacón con Pimientos for Linda.

2nd course for Linda was Pollo al curry al con arroz and for Jim, Lubina con salsa de piquillo y ensalada.

We also had a chocolate tarta and tasted a glass of wine of two difference Bierzo Mencía crianza red wines of the region.

We made a visit to the Iglesia Parroquial de Nuestra Señora de la Plaza, consecrated in 1108, which has seen many renovations over the centuries since, was beautiful inside

with an impressive collection of religious statues and icons.

With a good morning walk behind us, a sampling of Camino history and art, a tasty lunch in our tummies complemented by a sampling of two good wines, there was nothing left to do, but retire to our hotel and savor the day into the night.

Walked today: 6.8 miles

Walked Camino 2019: 292.0 miles

Our previous walks into Ponferrada from Molinaseca have been at the end of the very difficult downhill, rocky path from El Acebo into Molinaseca.

Today, having spent the night in Molinaseca, it was a much easier walk plus we decided to take the not recommended route, walking straight into the city on sidewalks versus swinging left of the city through some unattractive farms and abandoned buildings, then into the city through an old, depressed section.

The recommended route left us with a negative feelings about Ponferrada, which was completely different from our experience today.

The so-called direct route took us through some beautiful homes and landscapes, high rise (7 stories) residential areas surrounded by parks and winding, wide boulevards with local walkers and limited traffic.

We also walked gently down into the historical old city areas instead of climbing up into the same area via the alternate route.

Our perception of Ponferrada has improved 100% due entirely to the way we enteted the city today.

Some weeks back, we discovered by accident that Ponferrada has a Decathlon store. We were introduced to Decathlon back in 2017, when we visited the store outside Burgos to replaced Linda’s non-performing fishing sandals. Unfortunately, the only D store in the USA is in San Francisco, so we picked a hotel in Ponferrada about a mile from the D store so we could check it out while we were here, especially since Linda is concerned that she didn’t bring enough warm clothes for our remaining 3 weeks, as the mornings are now dipping into the 40’s.

As soon as we checked into Hostal San Miguel (43€), we headed out to D.

When we got there, it was closed up tight. This was in spite of the open hours scheduled on the door and the store hours posted on the internet!

We checked next door at the McDonald’s restaurant and were informed that the festival for this weekend took precedence over all else.

So, we walked back to the hotel, empty handed.

After completing chores, we had a menu of the day at a nearby restaurant/bar. It gave us a chance to taste the “Conference Pear” grown only in the Bierzo region. They were very delicate in flavor and texture and sliced and served in a light syrup.

Jim had grilled fish, called “Lupina” and left only the bones, head and some skin.

That pretty much ended our activity for today and gave us insight to the Camino “alternate/preferred” routes and new perspectives on Ponferrada.

Walked today: 7.8 miles

Walked Camino 2019: 285.2 miles

It was dark when we left Rabanal (elev. 3730 ft) and we stopped at Foncebadón (pop.13, elev. 4650 ft.) for breakfast.

As day was breaking, we walked up another mile to Cruz Ferro (elevation 4930 ft).

The site consists of a tall wooden pole topped with an iron cross. This is said to be an ancient monument, first erected by the ancient Celts, then dedicated by the Romans to their god Mercury (protector of travelers) and later crowned by the cross and renamed as a Christian site by the 9th-century hermit Guacelmo. For centuries, pilgrims have brought a stone to the place (either from home or the flatlands below) to represent their burden. The stone and the burden are left here, leaving the pilgrim lighter (literally and figuratively) for the journey ahead. Today all sorts of symbolic items are left behind, and some stones bear written messages.

Jim left a stone he has been carrying from Col Lopoeder the high point in the Pyrennes, and another stone from Alto de Pardon near Zariguegui. Merging these symbols with Cruz Ferro stones on another high point of the Camino was his way of … we’ll get back to you on that.

From Cruz Ferro we followed the pass over the Irago Mountains. The pathway

was rugged at times but the views were beautiful and expansive. It was a struggle from watching every footstep to avoid a Camino-ending fall, but not wanting to miss the ever changing “oooh” and “ahhh” scenery that changed, left and right, with every few steps.

We had one last treacherous downhill section of loose, sharp rock as we descended, slowly into El Acebo (pop. 37).

Walking into El Acebo, still in one piece.

We stopped at a familiar bar from our visits in 2015 and 2017. While sipping our second CCL of the morning, we were satisfied and relieved that we had made it safely to this point. The next section between here and Molinaseca, a descent of another 1900 ft, is for us, one of the most treacherous on the Camino. We survived it in 2015 and 2017, but wondered what we had to prove by doing it once more. We thought about our knees, we thought about the risk of a twisted ankle or sprain or knee injury, with still 150 miles left to go for Camino 2019.

We finished our drinks and asked the nice lady at the bar to please call a taxi to take us the remaining 4.5 miles to Molinaseca, our destination for the day.

Our taxi driver in his best English and sign language said that anyone with knee issues should avoid the section we were skipping. We told him that we had done it twice before, but decided to do it with him in his taxi this time. We also told him we were old but not stupid he laughed and agreed with our logic, having knee issues himself.

When we arrived in Molinaseca, Luis, our driver, explained to us with his translation app that the most difficult part of the rocky path had been created in Roman and Celtic times by metal wheeled carts carrying gold and other items which cut deep ruts in the rock, making it treacherous to walk on.

So we not only survived to walk another day, but learned some interesting history about the Camino, before it was the Camino Frances, nearly 1000 years before.

We had walked through Molinaseca twice before but never stayed here. Its a charming little town on the outskirts of Ponferrada with a majestic medieval bridge reserved for pilgrim traffic entering the town of 854 residents.

We’re staying at the El Capricho de Josana (43€),

strategically located on the Camino path through Molinaseca,

just as you exit the old section of town.

We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the pilgrims bridge and the Río Meruela and were joined by Gary from Texas who also happened to be staying in Molinaseca tonight.

Our tummies still full from lunch we decided to skip dinner and chill for another nice day on the Camino Frances.