Updating is getting a little weird. When we left off we were at the Templar Castle. After the castle we stopped for hamburguesas and then went to the Iglesia de la Virgen de lA Encina. What follows are pictures of the statues at the entry including an amazing Pieta.
We returned to the Albergue, checked in, did laundry and read. The went to a bar for vino tinto y queso y wifi and then went to bed.
Had nice breakfast ahead of short walk with sightseeing.
A few sights on the way into Ponferrada.
We first stopped at the Albergue de San Nicolás de Flüe and stashed our packs.
We then went into Ponferrada and immediately came to the Templar Castle.
Some disagreement with Lerner and Lowe, today the rain in Spain was mainly in the mountains. We are completely drenched and recovering. We walked 6.5 miles and went from1145 to 600 meters above sea level. We are staying at a hostal called Casa Pichon and just finished dinner. The day started innocently enough with the rains having just ended. We saw an interesting bicycle sculpture as we left El Acebo
We then proceeded down to Riego de Ambrós where we stopped at a bar for the usual café con leche. Since we hadn’t needed our gaiters yet, we cleverly took them off and headed out, past numerous chestnut trees.
All was fine at this point, although there was a light mist. Just after we saw some horses,
We read in the guide book that the Camino at thes point had a dangerous rocky downhill especially when wet, so we continued down the road. It was treacherous also and the heavens let loose. On the way, Susan snapped this picture of what appears to be a dead spotted salamander. We made it to the edge of Molinaseca, called a taxi and went to the place we are now.
We just finished a nice dinner and observed this nifty garlic person.
We are now waiting for a lovely lady from Meson El Acebo who is bringing down something we forgot in our room. People on the Camino are wonderful!
Had a nice breakfast müesli and yogurt Nd said “¡Buen Camino!” to our new friends and began our hike to the Cruz de Ferro.
We got to the “Iron Cross” or Cruz de Ferro an hour or so later. It is over 1500 meters above sea level. Susan and I placed rocks on the pile, hers from Nova Scotia, mine from Casa de lid Dioses, on the pile and said the following prayer: “Lord, may this stone, a symbol of my efforts on the pilgrimage that I lay at the foot of the cross of the Saviour, one day weigh the balance in favor of my good deeds when the deeds of my life are judged. Let it be so.” (If this prayer is copyrighted by Emilio Estévez, my apologies).
We then proceeded up and down across the top of the mountain and passed the highest point on the Camino, 1513 m.
Here are some stunning shots as we went over.
Now came the fun of going down the mountain on rocky roads.
We got into El Acebo after about 7 miles too exhausted to continue and checked into Mesón El Acebo. We had a lovely dinner and are now relaxing. On to Molinaseca and Pontferrada tomorrow.
We got off to an ok start and proceeded out of El Ganso and started up. We could see the mountains ahead.
As we walked up, we encountered a cute rock Perigrino and lots if autumn crocuses.
as we entered Rabanal del Camino we passed the Ernita de San José.
We had lunch in Rabanal and decided that another 300 meters vertical was too much for us. We called a taxi. As we waited, I took a few pictures in the late 12 century church of Santa María de la Asunción.
That brought us to Foncebadón where we checked in to the Albergue Monte Irago. Before dinner, Susan napped and I took a walk. The town was completely abandoned in the 1990’s but is being reborn with the recent interest in the Camino.
Now the dinner. We had a beautiful paella with fellow pilgrims from New York, Germany, Brazil, France and Spain.
Another awesome albergue experience. We only walked about 6 km and taxied up to 1400 meters above sea level.
We got off to a reasonable start around 8:30 and the temperature was just nudging 40°F. On the way out I snapped pix of the Cathedral and the Bishop’s Palace.
After walking a little more than a mile we stopped for café and removed one layer. We had lunch in Santa Catalina de Samoza and removed more layers. It was 70° up here. We have crossed over the 1000 m elevation (3048 ft) and will go higher over the next two days.
in Santa Catalina we saw an amazing stork nest.
We are now in the Maragato section of the Camino. The people are famous for their colorful clothes and thatched houses. Their origin is unclear with theories including Visigoth, Mujedar, Carthaginian and several other possibilities. Here is one of the houses.
We expected to dine tonight at just where you would expect, the Cowboy Bar. Unfortunately it was closed and we has spaghetti from a nice Italian couple and augmented it with rice, cheese, and peanuts. We need to pack emergency food!
We wanted to take it easy and visit the museums and Cathedral in Astorga (PRS-64). We slept in and walked to Astoga, over the ancient Roman bridge.
Astoria goes back to Roman times and has various ruins around town.
We came into the old walled city, similar to walking into Quebec, and walked around a but. It was market day so the streets were jammed with fruit and clothing vendors. We stopped for café con leche and pastry which served as breakfast. We then went to the Bishop’s Palace and Museum and the Cathedral. By now it was approaching siesta time (everything closes at 1400) but we managed to get to both.
The Bishop’s mansion was started in 1889 by the original “bishop bling” who hired noted architect Antonio Gaudí to design neo-Gothic grand palace. The bishop’s death led to numerous delays but it was finished in 1913. I will provide interior shots later but here is the exterior.
The Cathedral was built starting in 1471 and mostly completed in the 16th century. Again I will provide the external shot and then fill in.
After the visits we stopped for pizza y cerveza and came and checked into a big Albergue with a private bunk bed room for us.
Now more pictures from the Bishop’s Palace. Garden
Interior
Now here are a bunch of pictures in the Cathedral. It was magnificent.
Stayed at the Albergue of the Friends of the Camino of Astorga which is a former convent but modernized. We had a room with a bunk bed and a sink. Simple bu nice. Great dinner at Hotel Gaudí. Tomorrow we start to climb toward Cruz de Ferro, the highest point on the Camino at 1500 meters. On the way home, I took a picture of the town hall.
We had a nice breakfast at Albergue Verde and set off around 9. We decided to not continue on the road route, as this is noisy and a bit boring. We headed off through two villages, hoping that the second one, Santaibánez de Valdeglesias would have an open bar to get some café and OJ, but nothing was open. The landscape was beautiful although there was a lot of mud. (Note that Leonese fall mud is not near as bad as Navarran spring mud).
We had a snack to serve as lunch at the Cruz de Valle.
We continued up a down into the “Home of the gods”, Casa de Los Dioses area.
While having a much needed snack at a “cantina” maintained by a pilgrim support group, we were greeted by Franco, the Argentine pilgrim, responsible for last nights pizza, walking his Camino barefoot. I guess I forgot to mention that he is studying massage and specializes in foot therapies. Last night at the Albergue he was frequently seen massaging his feet.
As we finished our walk we passes the Cruz de Santo Toribio, a fifth century bishop who was banned from Astorga and fell to his knees at this spot when leaving We also got a great view of the mountains ahead. Tomorrow we will spend some quality time in Astorga (PRS-64) and not hike as far.
I forgot to mention 8.7 miles with mud and hills. Stayed in a private room in
Hostal Juli.
I didn’t write after dinner because we went to bed, but wow! Dinner was mostly vegan although the pizza was merely vegetarian, having goat and sheep cheeses. From the beginning it was great. After the soup was served, noodles and spinach, the hospitaleros sang and played guitar as our “grace”. I took a video of it but can’t seem to place it here. Here is the youtube link
After the soup, I had two helpings, we had the main courses. There was a delightful vegetarian pizza, with lots of veggies and whole wheat crust, and a curried rice dish. Again, I had two helpings. Dessert was a cake. Normally the hospitalera cooks everything, but this night we had a special guest pilgrim cook. Franco, an Argentine perigrino, was relaxing a few days and offered to cook. He is seen serving soup below. More on him in the next entry.
The dinner was magical with talk from interesting folks from US, Canada, Denmark and Spain.
We walked 9 miles today. A little more each day. We are almost through the meseta and will start into the mountains in a couple of days. I didn’t sleep real well last night since I was able to get espn radio on my phone. The game lasted until 0500.
Anyway we got up and packed by 0730 had coffee and tea in our room, along with a Whole Foods morning round that we had packed. We started to walk and after a few km came to an Albergue and there was Clara from Seattle whom we met Thursday. We walked with her all day. We stopped for breakfast in San Martín del Camino and continued walking to Hospital de Órbigo. Here are Susan and Clara walking along.
As before, I will occasionally reference the Pilgrimage Road to Santiago and we are at chapter 62 (noted as PRS-62). Here is an interesting water tower on the way into town.
The bridge at Hospital de Órbigo was buit in the 13th century and has been rebuilt after floods and such. The most recent was when the Spanish destroyed some to prevent Napoleon from invading. Napoleon went a different way. Here are several shots if the bridge.
We are now relaxing before dinner at Albergue Verde It is very nice with lots of nice people. No Internet in room however so no baseball in the middle of the night. I might sleep better as a result.
Gorgeous sunset tonight.
