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

Se vende

Molinaseca to Ponferrada, 18 May (by taxi)

I asked the Señora in the hotel to call me a taxi, which took me 7.5 kms into Ponferrada and dropped me in the centre of town, deserted on a Sunday morning.  We passed the amazing edifice of Castillo de los Temparios.  I should have got him to drop me there, as I had to walk back to it in search of El Castillo Hotel.  They told me I could have a room at 10.30 a.m., which was fine with me.

Having checked in, I wanted to spend the morning looking round the Castillo de los Templarios.  It was a most interesting medieval castle, complete with a moat on one side and a deep river gorge on the other.  There was a drawbridge and remains of a portcullis, turrets and defensive walkways on the battlements between them, with slits for arrows and holes for boiling oil, I imagine.  There were bits of the building dating from various historical periods, and much had been restored.  The audio guide was not available and the small leaflet not up to explaining everything.

There was a small section on the different building styles, concentrating mainly on the types and colours of the stones used, with a reference to coats of arms, but not all of these were visible.  The Knights Templars themselves were outlawed in 1312 and disbanded by a Church "fearful of their increasing power and esoteric tradition."  I must research this more when I get back home!

After walking all around the grounds of the Keep, noting the well and the secret tunnel, which allowed the castle under siege to draw water from the river down below without the enemy knowing about it.

It was now getting very hot for this part of the world. I later saw a chemist's sign reading 32 degrees.  I followed the Camino signs through the Street of the Clock, through the arch of the Torre del Reloj (16th century) into the Plaza Mayor.  It was International Museums Day, with free entry to all museums, but I had run out of energy for the Museo del Bierzo.  So I went instead for a gazpacho and vino tinto in the square at the Violet Restaurant.  After a siesta, I returned there later in the day for a Broken Eggs Dish, served in the pan, with chips and local ham and young garlic shoots.

I shouldn't have eaten all this: more stomach problems in the night!

Castillo de los Templarios

Drawbridge

Bridge over the moat

Portcullis and turrets

Castillo from the riverside

Street of the Clock