Villafranca to Trabadelo 9 km

Leaving town, people going all the way to Santiago would be happy to see this sign:

In the shadow of the hill, it was extremely cold, but in the sun it was just right. The trail followed the minor road which wound steadily upwards, itself following the route of the river. In addition, the newer motorway was high above on concrete stilts, crisscrossing everything below, with giant trucks delivering Estrella Galicia and other important supplies to the top of the mountain.

At Pereja, the first stop, the only bar in town was closed. I was longing for a coffee, but had to make do with a drink of water and a sweet, sitting on a stone beside a well.

There were plenty of these signs on the winding road.

Foxgloves were the flower of the day.

Puss cats with their place in the sun.

This is a big area for timber. There were lots of stacks of various sizes beside the road into Trabadelo:

I also saw a factory for making pallets.

I reached Trabadelo at about 12.15 and ordered a beer and a ham & cheese sandwich at Bar Crispeta.  Just after this, I came to the bridge where I remembered buying cherries last year. The stall was obviously aimed at drivers, because it’s position was not visible to people on the Camino. They were losing a lot of business because of this.

At Casa Susi, I received a warm welcome. When I sat in the garden in the afternoon, Susi brought me a cup of tea and a slice of lemon cake:

That’s service!

 Susi and Fermin are keen gardeners and grow lots of veggies in their plot down by the river:


Next door’s plot is full of potatoes plus these huge kale plants used throughout the winter for making caldo gallego soup: