Villafranca to Madrid, 22 May

The bus from Villafranca was supposed to take half an hour and connect with the 10.40 “superbus” to Madrid, for which I had paid a higher fare.  The best laid plans…  My bus was about 2 minutes late and the Madrid bus must have been 2 minutes early!

I don’t know which was worse – sitting in the Ponferrada bus staion for 3.5 hours, or sitting on the slow bus to Madrid for 5 hours!  Fortunately, I had a leftover “picnic” of pulpo, which the waitress had kindly parceled up for me in a shrink wrap the previous night.  I could have done with more to drink though, and the driver seemed reluctant to let people off at stops.

The road to Madrid was exceedingly boring across long flat plains.  A DVD of “The Butler” was showing, but no-one seemed to have any headphones.  It seemed like an interesting film to while away the afternoon, especially as it was in English with Spanish subtitles.

On arrival at the Bus Station “Sur”,  I knew it would be an expensive taxi ride through busy traffic to reach the Hotel Puerto America, 4 kms north of the centre.  It was!  (€15)

The hotel was certainly different!  I was given an iPad and asked to select a floor.  Each floor had been designed by a different architect.  I was a bit too tired to think properly, and couldn’t really be bothered to look through information about 10 floors, so I chose No. 6, with designs by an Aussie architect, Mark Newson.  The corridor to my room was bright red plastic.  The room itself was in dark grey leather and dark grey plastic, with the bathroom done entirely in white Carrera marble with light grey markings.  Stunning!

I had a G & T from the minibar, and then later went for dinner in the posh restaurant,  I was first in there at 9.15 p.m.  Menu:  light cream soup with scallops and courgettes, followed by stewed oxtail in red wine;  then a gluttonous dessert: a cross between a bread and butter pudding and a crème brulee (€50).  There were at least 7 waiters hovering around and only one other couple, till a group arrived well after 10 p.m.

Luxurious hotel room

Villafranca, 21 May

I was up at 7.30 a.m.  Rain was falling steadily as per forecast.  I left the hotel with only a coffee (not realizing that I had actually paid for breakfast with my booking).  I was at the bottom of the hill in good time for the little bus up to Pedrafita, rain falling all the while.

It was a most interesting ride up and up into the mountains.  After a couple of stops on the minor road, we swung onto the freeway.  This was a feat of engineering, with at least 4 viaducts built high above the valley floor.

On arrival in Pedrafita, it was exceedingly cold, so I headed straight for a bar to get a hot coffee.  I got talking to a Norwegian girl, Sol, who also had a foot problem which was preventing her from continuing to walk.  However she was limping along and determined to complete her Camino by bus.

When she had found a hotel and deposited her bags, we shared a taxi for €10 up to O’Cebreiro.  When we got there, the weather if anything was worse.  It seemed to be blowing a Force 10 gale, which made my notion of strolling round the little town very unattractive.  I had been there previously with Fresco Tours, but we had arrived late in the day on a lovely Autumn evening, with no time to look around.

Sol and I headed for the old Church, now with its own legend, and had our Credencials stamped by a monk.  We then hurried inside (as fast as we could with our gammy feet!)  to a warm bar across the street.  I ordered a sherry and the lady also gave me a tiny bowl of chicken noodle soup.

Suddenly some old Camino friends of Sol arrived, and were amazed to see her there, thinking she must be behind them.  They had left her way back, injured.  They were a couple from Queensland with their grown up daughter.  We had an enjoyable long lunch (just beer and bowls of garlic soup), but we made it last as long as we could as it was just too cold and wet to go out.  From our little refuge we were able to watch all the pilgrims arriving, struggling up the hill, exhausted and dripping wet.  Not the dream Camino!

Outside I saw “Taxi Ana” parked, but no driver.  The friendly bar lady located Ana for us, having a coffee at the opposite bar.  So we jumped in and headed back down to Pedrafita.  The driver agreed to take me back down to Villafranca for €30.  I was keen to get back to the warmth and welcome of the Parador.  Ana drove down the freeway at speed, negotiating the bends with skill and talking on her mobile at the same time.

I thawed out with a nice hot bubble bath, washed my hair with proper shampoo and conditioner, then lazed on the bed watching the Spanish TV News.  The weather forecast was still solid rain across Northern Spain.  After another long Internet session, during which I booked my hotel in Madrid for 2 nights, it was time for dinner: a fresh salad with goats cheese, followed by octopus and potatoes.

Iglesia de Santa Maria Real,  O'Cebreiro
dating from 9th Century

Bibles in the church in many languages

Candles in the church

Typical house in O'Cebreiro

Hotel next to the church

Looking back from O'Cebreiro

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