Last night, we stayed at a beautiful albergue, in a private
room for two. That makes such a
difference in the morning! We can turn
on the light, pack up our things, and get on our way—without worrying about waking
up our neighbors.
We got up later than normal today, since it was going to be
cool all day and we were walking up a mountain first thing in the morning. We decided to get coffee at the restaurant
next door before starting our walk. The
café opened at 7:00 am. We had breakfast
and started on our walk by 7:30 am.
We had a beautiful walk up the mountainside in the cool
morning weather. We passed all forms of
nature: farm animals, flowering plants, bees and insects, local fauna. Soon, we were serenaded by a cacophony of frogs. Here’s a glimpse of our walk:
An hour later, we came to a lovely town called Foncebadón. Unlike previous villages which were suffering
from neglect and decline, this town was decidedly on an upswing. Many of the villages we passed by today were
similarly growing. This 12th century
town welcomes pilgrims with newly paved roads, renovated buildings, and modern,
fully-stocked restaurants and bars. Had
we known that his was such a vibrant village, we would have left Rabanl earlier
and had our coffee here. But who knew?
Moments later, we came upon one of the highpoints of the
journey (no pun intended!): the Cruz de Ferro (Iron Cross). This humble monument stands 1,504 meters
above sea level (4,934 feet), and marks this highest point we’ll cross during
the Camino. It’s here that pilgrims
leave behind a stone which they’ve carried throughout the journey. That stone symbolizes each person’s purpose
for the journey and hope for the path that follows. As you'll recall, we foraged our stones from the flower beds surrounding the public gardens in Madrid. We've been carrying them ever since: symbols of our goals and aspirations for the journey. Placing them on the monument was a very special moment.
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| Crus de Ferro and all the Pilgrim Stones |
We climbed another 2 /2 kilometers along a ridge line before
starting our steep descent down the mountain to our destination. The views were stunning.
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| Views from the mountains |
It was a tough climb!
Remember those prior photos of the Roman roads and the rocky
trails? That’s what today’s path
downwards was like. It might not sound
like much, but the downwards trail is where most injuries befall people.
Our Coke break was in the small village of El Acebo. This is also a town on the upswing. People from the large town of Ponferrada
(we’ll walk through there tomorrow), have started buying and renovating
properties in the surrounding areas. The
town is beautiful. The local building
style is marked by protruding balconies.
It’s quite striking.
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| View of the village of El Acebo |
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| Protruding Balconies, Typical of this Region |
About 10 kilometers further down the mountain we arrived at
our destination: the historic town of Molinaseca. A medieval bridge, Puente de Peregrinos,
takes pilgrims into the beautifully restored and vibrant village.
It was a gorgeous temperature today. Families were out bathing in the clear waters
of the river. Teenagers were swimming
races from shore to shore; others were sunbathing in the bright sun. After checking into our albergue and
showering and changing, we had lunch at the restaurant overlooking the water.
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| Molinaseca |
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| Paco at the Bridge in Molinaseca |
I took a nap after lunch, while Paco was interviewed by a
local Leon newpaper about what the pilgrim’s life was like. I’m married to a celebrity!
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