Hello again! Celebration! The last tough mountain on the way is conquered and we are at 96.4 miles to Santiago. Yeah!!! What a day it was…no luck with the weather. The light rain at the start progressively became worse and worse with wind joining in towards the top of the mountain. The, at times very steep trail with rocks and mud turned into a little stream flowing downhill. Our shoes became swimming pools and everything on us totally drenched. We definitely paid penance today.

To top it off, Charlie who has not slept well since we arrived in Spain, woke this morning with bedbug bites. O yes, that’s what they are. Now we are in the process of hot washing and spraying our sleeping bags and all cloth etc. What did I say……PENANCE!

Starting out in light rain

The next village – Vega de Valcarce

The trail starting up

Entering Galicia now

This is the way we climbed up – it cleared up after we got settled in

O’Cebreiro – Iglesia de Santa Maria la Real from the 9th century and the earliest surviving building on the Camino

O’Cebreiro – home of Don Elias Valina Sampedro (1929 – 1989) the parish priest who restored and preserved the integrity of the Camino, it was his idea to mark the route with yellow arrows. He is buried in the church.

Greetings! We are in the middle of the mountains again after crossing the valley between Ponferrada and Villafranca del Bierzo. Tomorrow we are facing the second steepest climb on the Camino going up to O’Cebreiro. l just hope we don’t have to deal with rain and fog as we did on route Napoleon the first day in June. Plus, I’d like to enjoy the view. Got word on the Camino forum that a 43 year old Canadien pilgrim has died on the Camino between SJPDP and Roncesvalles. I remember route Napoleon as very, very challenging and can see someone falling of the cliff. Also in contrary to my statement from yesterday…Hostals are not available in these mountains….so Albergue it is and slow internet. We are now under 200 km from Santiago.

Villafranca del Bierzo:

Along the trail:

Hola! A shorter distance today since our legs are still tired from yesterday. We also decided to try to skip the Albergues and stay in Hostals from now on. At this time in the year it is just little more for a room with shower and no need for reservations. Besides, there is a rumor of bedbugs in some Albergues ahead. Most are closing in November and peaple working there have “Burn Out” from the high traffic all summer.

We started at 8 am since light does not come till about 8:40 now.  After about two hours we entered Ponferrada (meaning Iron Bridge) – pop. 63,000 and on the river Sil. During the Roman times the region was mined for various minerals. The city is noted for the Castillo de los Templarios, a Knights Templar castle covering approx. 16,000 square meters. In 1178 the city was donated to the knights by the king to protect the pilgrims on the way to Santiago. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponferrada

Our route took us through the medieval city and past the main historic sites. We stopped for breakfast across from the Knights Templar castle and continued on the trail after touring the castle. After the city we walked through vineyards and past fig, quince, pomegranate and chestnut trees.

Molinaseca – view of Iglesia de San Nicolas

House with balcony in the Bierzo style

Ponferrada

Gate into the old city

Castillo de los Templarios

Castillo de los Templarios side view

Having a break at Fuentes Nuevas

Our next mountains are ahead

Como estas! We took a room in a Hostal, so we could sleep in a little and see the sights of Astorga. Headed out about noon with sunshine all the way. An enjoyable walk, legs and feet are doing good. The trail led us through some very ancient Maragato villages. We stopped in one of them for coffee – Santa Catalina, a cobbled main street lined with stone buildings some of them crumbling and very authentic for this region on the foot of the Sierra. At 4:15 pm we arrived in Rabanal where Pilgrims rest before they take the steep path up and over Monte Irago – 4980 feet.

Astorga Town Hall

Roman Bathhouse Excavation

Taking a break in Santa Catalina

Crumbling Maragato Village

Village of El Ganso with the Sierra mountains in the back

Hello there! Good day today. We started in the dark and rain. Daylight came at 8:30 am and the rain gave way to the sun. We stopped in about every one of the four villages we past through, had coffee con leche and met some nice fellow pilgrims from Australia, England and Germany. There are a few from the USA as well… lets just say English is spoken mostly. The land scape is changing from the Meseta to the hills at the foot of the Sierra. This is the land of Cervantes “Don Quixote de la Mancha”.

Astorga is a historic little town of pop. 12,000. An important Roman city due to it’s prominent position in the junction of major routes – roman, trade and pilgrim roads from all directions converge here. It is also referred to as the “capital” of Maragateria.  Maragatos are suggested to be descended from the Berber tribes who came to Spain as part of the Moorish invasion in the 8th century.

Daybreak

Iglesia de las Candelas with Stork foamilies

Longest and best preserved bridge in Spain originally built by the Romans

Rio Orbigo

Cruz del Valle

Refreshments per donativo

Crucerio Santo Toribio with Astorga at the foot of the Sierra in the back

Buenos Dias! The first leg is done and we are resting in our Albergue “Tio Pepe”. So far, this is a different Camino from June. Then, we met numerous people on the trail and the Albergue filled quickly – now it is a more solitude walk, very nice. We only met two bikers and five walkers on the whole stretch. In the summer everyone uses their vacation time to walk as much of it as they can. Thanks to my knee we get to experience another different Camino – a good thing in the end.

At 6:30 this morning we headed out. Because it was still dark and us being the only ones it took some navigating out of the city. On the way we passed the enormous hotel “Parador de San Marcos” a former convent and made famous by the movie “The Way”. It was still to dark for a photo, so I borrowed one for below. This is still the Meseta; morning fog covered the land scape until noon when the sun finally burnt it off.

Hotel “Parador de San Marcos” – Photo by Jose Martinez

Morning fog over the Meseta

After the fog

Spider nets over grasses and bushes are glistening in the fog

Hola my friends! It feels good to be back. After 24 hrs travel time we had a much needed rest in our Hostal Boccalino and spent today exploring the city. 

Leon City – pop: 130,000, alt 840 m, at one time a Roman military garrison and base for its VII Legion. Later conquered by Visigoth, Moor and finally Christian forces.

Yes, we are here again

Town Hall

Plaza Mayor

Catedral de Santa Maria de Leon

Ave Ordono

Street Musician

Jamon – Spanish Ham

Yummy…

Hello everyone! Here we go again…..the backpack is packed and we are ready. Tomorrow morning we fly to Madrid then by train to Leon where we will spend two nights at a Hostal and see the city…didn’t get to do that last time. On Friday in the early AM we will head out on the way to Santiago de Compostela.

Last impressions: Walking in the Meseta in June