Cacabelos to Villafranca, 20 May (8 kms)

I had made a booking at the Parador in Villafranca with Booking.com (€85), so I was looking forward to a night of luxury!  It was only about a 2 - hour walk, though it took me 3 going at my much slower pace with this tendonitis which seemed to be getting worse not better as the days went by.

Leaving town I looked at a large model of an ancient wine press.  I took the scenic route through all the vineyards of the Bierzo.  Many had touristic signs advertising the grapes they produced and giving a history of that type of grape. It was much cooler en route, with clouds on all sides and showers threatening. As I was coming down into Villafranca it seemed about to rain, but this didn't come to much till the afternoon when it poured down.

Diagram of winepress

Winepress

Vineyards:  every pilgrim must have photographed this view!

I passed the Church of Santiago (11th century), where it was possible in medieval times to obtain your pardon if you were too old or infirm to reach Santiago itself.  I felt that my tendonitis might qualify me!  The layout of the town was rather confusing, and I had to ask the way to the Parador.  When I finally arrived, it was a haven of peace and luxury!  It had a full range of toiletries to replenish my dwindling supplies.  I ran a big hot bath and lazed in it for a long time with a bottle of beer in my hand!  I also spent some time looking out of the window at the view across the valley.  I could see the entrances to the tunnels into the mountain, one for the normal road and two for the freeway.  There was also a very tall chimney in the middle of town with a stork's nest on top.

Entering Villafranca, albergue in front

Best of all, the Parador had 3 computer terminals for the Internet, so I was able to read and send emails at my leisure, and then research a few ideas about where to go from here in view of my tendonitis problem.  Hotels in Mallorca seemed twice as expensive as I had been paying over here, and the good ones in Illetas were filling up fast.

I talked to the friendly guys in Reception, and discovered that there was one bus in the morning going up to Pedrafita, 4 kms from O'Cebreiro, with a return at 6.30 p.m.  The only problem on the horizon was the worsening weather, with rain solid forecast for the next 5 days at least!

I walked into town to check the info about the buses at the Turismo, and got caught in a gusty downpour which threatened to turn my umbrella inside out.  I had dinner in the Parador: c.€30, with grilled mixed veggies for starter, then a skewer of fish and scallops on a bed of rice.  Not bad at all, but I couldn't manage dessert!.

Church of Santiago

Castillo Palacio de los Marquesas

Transport of baggage for pilgrims

Bedroom at the Parador

Toiletries

Veggies

Seafood

View from my window of the tunnels

Ponferrada to Cacabelos, 19 May (7 kms plus bus)

I had previously discovered that local buses ran frequently as far as Fuentesnuevas, almost as far as Camponaraya, so I caught one at 8.40 a.m. and was soon transported through miles of suburbs to a walk of only 7 kms to my destination of Cacabelos.

I had decided to give my stomach a rest so that it could recover, so everywhere I could I simply ordered a black tea with lemon: I must have drunk 4 of these today!

The walk was lovely: through vineyards looking very healthy in rather stony ground.  I rejected the temptation at a Bodega for wine tasting at €1.5  (the only one I've seen in Spain).  It was a bit early and I was still resting my stomach.

I had booked into the Hostal Santa Maria, having been told that the lovely Posada La Moncloa de San Lazaro was full (though its possible I got the day wrong on the telephone).  The Posada looked a really interesting historic building when I passed by, so I resolved to drop in later for a drink later in the day.

When I finally did this at 5.30 p.m. or so, I shouted myself a whiskey to (hopefully) finally settle my stomach.  As I sat enjoying this in the upstairs restaurant area, I noticed it was pouring with rain outside.  What a change in the weather!  This was the first heavy rain I had seen in Spain in 3 weeks:  perhaps this was more typical of this part of the Camino.

A group of ladies were having a knitting lesson from a woman selling beautiful wool.  The group were seated happily at a round table, oblivious to the weather.  I decided to have a light meal there to warm me up before venturing out into the cold wet night.

Posada La Moncloa Restaurant

Church of Santa Maria: XVI century
with 10th century apse

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