Day 23: From O Cebreiro to Sarria. No room at the Inn...

Last night, we went over to the bar across the street to pay for our hotel room and have a glass of Albariño, the crisp white wine from Galicia that has been discovered by the rest of the world, including Napa Valley.  It was windy and cold and obvious that the morning was going to be foggy.  The bar assured us that they would be open at six the next morning for breakfast.

We were faced with the following choice: if it's going to be foggy, and you're on the top of a mountain, why would you want to brave it before having a cup of coffee?  Cooler minds prevailed.

Sure enough, at 6 AM it was pea soup outside and you could hear the condensing water droplets falling off the tree leaves like rain drops.  We had a cafe con leche at the hotel bar and headed out with headlamps on.  It was a new moon, and the fog was so thick that Tina switched her head lamp to the low beams because the higher setting was reflecting back too much.

Even still, as we walked slowly down the path through the forest, we passed a pilgrim in the dark with no lamp!

Our objective today was ambitious: to finish two days in the book.  First to walk 20 kilometers to the town of Triacastela and then to walk another 18 kilometers to the city of Sarria.  It sounded easy.  (Note, these distances didn't account for the amount of walking up and down hills we did.  Think about it.  You can be a mile away from something, but if you have to walk up a mountain and down the other side, you might walk two miles to get there.  We ended up walking over 41 kilometers again...)

The first thing we were able to positively identify was this famous statue of a pilgrim a little more than three kilometers out of town.  It was a good thing we had coffee before leaving, because the first town we walked through, Liñares, was totally asleep.

Pilgrim statue at the Alto de San Roque in the fog

We kept walking in the fog, first along a highway, then along gravel paths alongside, finally through the woods.  What we could see was gorgeous.  Galicia receives a lot of rain annually, and everything is covered with moss, lichens, and ferns.  This is not the arid Spain that my father talked about.

The sky lightened, allowing us to see our path

Eventually, the sun peeked through the clouds.

This is Celtic Spain.  Yesterday in O Cebreiro, there was a wedding and the traditional band they hired had bagpipers, gaiteros.  They also believe in witches and have a fun custom of mixing together all of the spirits in the house, setting them on fire, and drinking them.  It's called a quaimada.

This tree reminded me of why they believe in witches.

The ground here is really rocky, full of slate.  The houses in this part of Galicia are largely made of pieces of slate, piled on top of each other and held together by gravity.  Many old structures are falling down.

The towns we walked through were agricultural.  The paths we walked on were shared with many animals--you could tell by droppings on the ground.  Tina's best line of the day: "I'm becoming the doo doo expert."  At one point, in the late morning, outside Triacastela, we came face to face with a bunch of cattle as we walked on a path with a stone wall on each side.

At midday, we stopped in the town of Triacastela for a Coke and to plan the rest of our day.  Triacastela means "Three Castles", but none remain, so we'll have to take their word for it.

We decided to go another 18 kilometers to Sarria, the end of the next chapter in the guidebook.  Since it was already past noon, we decided to call albergues to reserve two beds.  I called at least seven, and they were all booked.  The towns in between were tiny, and not practical for the rest of our plan.  I called the one four star hotel in Sarria, and of course, they had a room.  (You couldn't book a Hampton Inn at home for this price, but when albergues are ten Euros a night or less, your perspective changes.)

This photo looks better than this fountain does, outside of Triacastela

I can't explain why I took this photo.

We didn't take a lot of pictures during the second part of the hike because the sun was out, it was getting hotter, and frankly, we were just on a mission to get to Sarria and take a shower in the expensive hotel room.

The old town in Sarria.  We'll be walking this street in the morning to follow the Camino out of town.

A Camino marker next to the main church

The church of Santa Mariña dominates the old town, and the old town is on high ground visible throughout Sarria

We got to Sarria at 4:30 PM.  Our day lasted over ten hours with only two breaks.  We showered, had a beer in a cafe along the river Sarria, and had a really nice dinner in our hotel.  Oh yeah, we made a reservation at an albergue for tomorrow night, so we don't get stuck like this again!

One final note about Sarria, and it's a big one.  To get a diploma for completing this walk, called a "Compostela", you have to walk at least 100 kilometers of the Camino.  Sarria is where most people start.  As we sat in that cafe, we watched all sorts of people pulling roller bags, carrying day packs and fanny packs, all sporting scallop shells that identified them as tomorrow's pilgrims.  They will pay a service to lug their bags from albergue to albergue for the next 100 kilometers as they stroll the Camino...

The guide book tells us to not get pissed off.  Now, you get an idea why we couldn't book a room here!  Also, when I walked the Portuguese Route four years ago, you couldn't use the internet to book your room.  Now it seems that everyone is using Booking.com.  I'm not sure that this is progress.

Tomorrow's plan is 37.5 kilometers.  Hopefully, they hold our room!  Tina will let you know how it works out.

Day 22: Villafranca del Bierzo to O'Cebreiro...We're in Galicia!

Once again, to beat the heat we arose early and were on the road by 5:30 am.  Today's walk involved not only distance (28.9 kilometers), but also height (a rise of 900 meters, which is 2,700 feet--or 270 flights of stairs!).

Predictably, the first village we passed about an hour into our walk, Pereje, was still fast asleep early Saturday morning.  We had better luck an hour later in a beautiful mill town called Trabadelo.  We sat and had coffee and breakfast at the first cafe we found.  Fifteen minutes later, many more pilgrims started joining the party.  By the time we left, every table was full and more pilgrims kept coming across the mountains.

We walked uphill all day, passing many beautiful sights, new and old.

Meet Mr. Donkey Outside a Village Home

Check out this house, with windows almost at curbside.

Home in the Countryside

Kale grows really well in this cool climate.

Kale in a garden along the way.

One of the cool things about our travels throughout the Castilla & Leon region has been the very clear water in public lakes and streams.  Everywhere we walked, you could see to the bottom of the stream.  People were actively fishing and bathing in the crystal clear waters.  It wasn't just in rural areas--the same was true in large cities and intermediate towns as well.  Take a look at the clear water at a random stream we passed along the way:

Crystal-clear stream waters in Castilla & Leon

We divided our day into thirds:  we walked the first third of the way, then had our coffee break.  We walked another third of the way--about 10 kilometers, and had our Coca Cola break in the town of Las Herrerias.  It was about 10:15 when we stopped in there, having already walked 20.7 kilometers.  We felt like such troopers!

Las Herrerias is a small village high in the mountains that serves as a launching point for pilgrims traversing the steep climb up to O'Cebreiro.  The town has a collection of albergues, shops, cafes and bars to allow folks to stock up on supplies before attempting the 2,000 foot ascent.

There's even a vendor offering horse-rides up the mountain!  The guide will take you and your bags on a two-hour easy climb to the top.  (More on this later).

Las Herrerias.  Check Out the Horses.

We started our climb around 10:45 am.  The weather was beautifully cool and clear--until we started up the mountains.  It's amazing how hot it feels climbing steep hills, carrying a heavy back-pack, in the noon-day sun.  Suddenly, 80-degree blissful weather starts feeling really, really, hot.

The initial part of the climb was very steep and very rocky.  Here's a look at what 2,000 feet "up" looks like from here:

2,000 feet upward to go from here...

Of course, the views were amazing.  We passed livestock, rolling hillside, and even mountaintop castles!

Castle Ruins in the Mountains

One of the worst parts of the climb was the horse droppings.  Yes, those lovely animals that take pilgrims up the 2,000-foot climb leave droppings all along the way.  Not only are we struggling up the mountain in mid-day heat, but we're playing dodge-the-doo-doo with the horses.  Not fair!  (Sorry, no photo!)

Mountaintop Countryside...and Paco, of course!

In the last kilometer of our journey today, we crossed over into the province of Galicia.  That's the province in which Santiago de Compostela resides.  It was a very special and moving moment.

The Province Marker for Galicia

We're staying in the small Galician village of O'Cebreiro.  It's tiny.  It's beautiful.

Downtown O'Cebreiro

We went to Mass at the Iglesia de Santa Maria Real.  The church dates back to the 9th century and is the oldest existing church associated directly with the pilgrim way.

Iglesia de Santa Maria Real in O'Cebreiro

Alongside the church is the resting place of an amazing parish priest, Don Elias Valina Sampedro (1929-1989), who pioneered the idea of using the yellow arrow symbol to mark the path of the Camino for pilgrims.  Thanks to his simple but brilliant idea, the Camino has grown and flourished.

The Camino Symbol: Yellow Arrow. The priest gave these to all the pilgrims at the mass.

Day 21: From Molinaseca through Bierzo Wine Country to Villafranca del Bierzo

As lovely as yesterday's town and albergue were, sleeping was another story.  We were on the upper floor of a converted house, and even though night time temperatures plummeted, there's always some genius who shuts windows and doors at night, locking in the heat.  Neither of us got a great night's sleep, and as a result, we hit the road at 5:50 AM.

The first part of our morning was perhaps a taste of things to come.  By the time we came downstairs, at least 20 downstairs pilgrims had left.  As we were walking through the streets with head lamps on, we saw another perhaps 30 leaving another leaving another building.  Where did they all come from?

The walk was just about 100% paved as we walked a little over 7 kilometers to Ponferada, a city of 69,000 that's supposed to be the capital of the Bierzo wine region.  When you get to a city at 7:30 in the morning, there's not much going on.  We had coffee and Spanish omelet in their main square, took the following photos, and kept walking.  We came away with two impressions: (1) it's a nice enough city, and (2) it has a lot of graffiti.

The clock tower which overlooks a street in the old town on the way to the main square

The Basilica in the Main Square.  This was our view from breakfast. There's a pilgrim's statue in the foreground.

This Knights Templar Castle dominates the town. It's so big, you can't fit it in the camera frame.

We continued our walk out of Ponferada through the Western suburbs.  Both on the way in and on the way out of the city, we passed by some of the most impressive mansions we've seen in this country.  There's some money here!

Our hiking poles have rubber tips for when we're on pavement and metal tips for when we're on dirt and gravel.  The rubber tips were on for most of the day as we walked through suburb after suburb, heading West.  There was one common element in these towns: they all had an Ermita, a small hermitage, for pilgrims, and they were all very old.

The Ermita of San Roque

Time may march on, but the vestiges of the old Camino linger.

We stopped for the obligatory Coke in a town called Camponaraya, but didn't take any photos.  There we met a bike pilgrim from New Mexico.  We've seen him over the last few days, but we didn't learn his name.  He did the first half of the Camino a few years ago, and is finishing it this year, keeping pace with us.  He looks to be older than us, and he kept rubbing his knee as we spoke.  This takes a toll on people, but not on us (knock on wood!)

We still had another 15 kilometers to go, and after the town of Cacabelos, the roads finally became less suburban, more Camino-like.

Stork dominating a church in Cacabelos

Tina in Bierzo wine country

Vineyards being replanted outside Cacabelos

Bierzo is a region of Castilla y Leon that is surrounded by mountains.  We climbed over one set to get here, and we'll go over another set tomorrow.  The red wine here is made from a grape named Mencía.  It's not as full bodied as a Cabernet, but it holds up to all kinds of food.  It comes in usually at 14.5% alcohol.  The white wine here is made from a grape named Godello.  These whites are very nice, but not as tart as Albariños or Verdejos.  Yes, we've been trying them every chance we get.

Our objective today is the beautiful eleventh century town of Villafranca del Bierzo.  You may note that we stayed in another Villafranca earlier.  When French pilgrims returning from Santiago decided to settle down instead of returning home, the towns they started were frequently called Villafranca, "French Town".  There are five of these in Spain.

Villafranca del Bierzo

The town straddles a river and sits at the foot of the mountains we have to cross in the morning.  It is stunning.  Again, it's dominated by a castle.  The streets are really narrow, but that doesn't stop people from driving fast through them.  There are lots of places to eat and drink.  This is a destination in its own right.

The Castle up close.  That's a tourist on the left.

A pilgrim statue facing away from the town towards the bridge we have to cross in the morning.

We got here, showered and had a fabulous lunch in a restaurant with air conditioning. Temperatures are slowly rising, with today's highs in the mid 80's.  Now, that may sound yummy, but try it in the sun carrying a backpack for hours, and it gets old.  Lunch was awesome.  Here's a taste:

Roasted Pig's Knuckle (Codillo) with (the ubiquitous) French Fries

We walked by this vineyard, so we had to try their wine.

Tomorrow is going to be a challenge.  We have to walk over three mountains, and the total walk will be 33.4 kilometers, including climbing 900 meters.  (Multiply by 3+ for feet.)  Today's walk was 31.6 Km, and we were done--with very little climbing.  If we finish the route, we will be in Galicia, our last province of the Camino!

Tina will let you know how it works out.

Day 20: Rabanal Del Camino to Molinaseca

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.

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.

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.

View of the village of El Acebo

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.

Molinaseca

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!

Day 19: From Hospital de Orbigo to Rabanal del Camino. Who knew Astorga was so cool?

We both had a rough night last night.  Remember how much we liked the town where we were staying, Hospital de Orbigo?  Our modern albergue was on the street facing the river, and our room was on the ground floor.  The locals didn't feel like going to bed or lowering their voices until way into the wee hours!  We had a 4:45 wake up set, and we were both grumpy!

Opting not to talk loudly as we walked through the deserted town, we decided to take a slightly shorter route that ran alongside the main highway to the first town 11+ kilometers up the road.  Our thinking was this: why take the scenic route when the sun hasn't risen?  Why worry about traffic at 5 in the morning, and besides, this highway has one lane in each direction.

The sun rises, and we make good time.  We need to.  Our plan is to walk a day and half's worth in the guidebook so that we end up at the beginning of the mountain for tomorrow.  Anyway, after 11 hours, we come across this historic cross in the woods.  Among the markers along the Camino, you find crosses which were the original markers.  Some date back many centuries.

Eleven kilometers into the walk, a sign that coffee is in my future. (Outside San Justo de la Vega.)

Tina says "Come on, smile!"  I haven't had my coffee yet.  The nearby town is Justo de la Vega. Behind it the city of Astorga.

We walk into the little town of San Justo de la Vega, population 2,100.  It's a bedroom community outside the city of Astorga.  The main street is tired.  We spot an open bar called the Oasis, and go inside.  The clientele is old men and civil servants.  (It's only about 7:30 in the morning.)  I order two large cafes con leche and 2 raciónes de tortilla Española (Spanish omelet).  We receive the largest, most beautiful, tastiest omelet ever.  In addition to potato and onion, it had a hint of green and red pepper.  Wow... Tina couldn't finish hers.

Why I get up so early in the morning.

We next walked into the city of Astorga, a place I knew nothing about.  What a cool city!  We're going to spend some time here in the future.  The city dates back to the Romans.  Saint Francis of  Assisi stayed here when he walked the Camino.  Antoni Gaudi designed the Bishops residence next to the cathedral.  Today's population is only 12,000, but it is an incredibly cool city.

Roman ruins in the city center.  check out the mosaic floor at the upper right.

The Plaza de España featuring the old town hall.  The clock is struck by the figures of a man and a woman.

The archbishop's palace designed by Gaudi. Check out the arched doorways at the bottom right.

The front of the cathedral.

We went into the cathedral, but they were having mass, so no photos.  We lit a candle for Tina's mom, and continued our walk out of the city, vowing to return with more time.

About a kilometer out of town, there's a tiny hermitage that used to take care of pilgrims.  We refilled our water bottles here.  It's named Ecce Homo.  I couldn't stop thinking of Kevin Cline in "A Fish Called Wanda".

Tina approaching Ecce Homo.  You have to be prepared for anything.

We still had almost 20 kilometers to walk.  The countryside was changing.  As Tina mentioned, the wheat had changed to corn.  It has become hillier and we are walking towards mountains.  There are a lot of trees, first oaks, and later, pine trees.

Tina, trees, hills and mountains. (A little wheat is visible at the right.)

Our halfway point is the tiny town of Santa Catalina de Somoza.  This is a beautiful little town with a few cafes and hostals serving pilgrims.  The population is 50.  We saw a baby.  Make that 51.  The next town we passed, el Ganso, (the goose) had a population of even fewer.  These towns are dying.  The old stone houses are falling down.  It's a real shame.

Finally, we reached our destination, Rabanal del Camino.  Even though it's got the same vacant buildings as the preceding towns, this hip little place has a great vibe.  It's the last town before tomorrow's climb up the mountain.  We're at about 4,000 feet and tomorrow  will climb to 5,000 before descending to less than 2,000.  The descent is supposed to be a killer.  So everybody stays here.

A quiet part of the main street in Rabanal

The interior of the chapel at the monastery in town. Sitting here, I got all choked up.

Spotted on the wall of an abandoned house with no roof and only two walls.

This town could be as cool as Santa Fe, New Mexico if just a few things could come together.  Instead, it's on life support, thanks to the Camino.

We're staying at a great private albergue, which is absolutely full.  I got us a private room, so I'm typing at 10:30 but everybody else is asleep, including Tina.

Tomorrow's a big day.  Tina will let you know how it turns out.  Good night!