19 Miles
Woke early, medicated, taped, etc. for the walk today and headed out. Reached Ponferrada and enjoyed breakfast across from the the Catillo de Los Templarios (Knights Templar). Huge castle/fortress. We left the pandaria, walking around the castle and headed on down the camino. Then, we got lost getting out of the city! The camino was not very well marked so we had google mapped ot to our next town. Unfortunately, Google took us the fastest way walking…but not The Way.Â
Between the Brierley and Google mapping, we found our way out, but could not find any camino signs or see other pilgrims. Not good. So we decided to find a point of interest in the nearest town and mapped there. As we entered the town, an older gentleman walking towards us began to smile. When Dale stopped him to ask for help he simply pointed to the small white concrete marker across the street. At last! A sign!!
While today wasn’t necessarily a hard day walking, it was a very long day…over 30k. There were ascents and declines along the way but nothing too steep or taxing. It was simply the distance that was the challenge.
Surprise Wine-tasting
As we were leaving Camponaraya, we met Ian exiting a small winery, which we hadn’t even noticed. He highly recommended stopping so we went in and enjoyed a nice tasting of red, white, and rose wines….and Dale ended up buying a bottle of each!
As we were enjoying the tasting, Lorilee came in and decided to have a rest and do a tasting as well.
Finishing the Day
As we got back on the road, we began leap-frogging with Lorilee between her rest stops and mine. In time, we were resting together. Dale decided to move on down the road and she and I finished the day together, stopping frequently to give our injuries a break. We arrived in Villafranca at about 5:30. My longest day.
VillafrancaÂ
This wonderful town is nestled right up in the mountains and some of its streets are very steep, even with steps to get you down to the next level. Would love to come back!
We stayed in a remarkable place, an old Monastery with wide stone steps upstairs, spacious hallways with wood floors, and large courtyard. Of course, after a hot shower, ice on the leg, and some rest, we were ready to explore just a bit, however Dale had done more exploration before I arrived. We enjoyed dinner with a father and son who are walking together, then turned in to rest up for another long day tomorrow.