We slowly started our day, originally wanting to start hiking at 5:30am so that we could beat the afternoon heat. After a bit of a sleep in, packing up, and grabbing a coffee, we were off at 6:30am.
Coming straight from my other part of the trip I had waaaaaaay to many clothes, even though Brad and the girls took a lot home for me. You really only need two outfits to hike in (wash one and wear the other if the first one is still wet), one outfit to change into once showered after hiking, a rain jacket, a long sleeved shirt, a pair of pants, and a couple pairs of socks. Other useful things, flip flops or shoes like that, a silk sleeping bag liner, toiletries, a quick dry towel, a backpack rain protector, and cell phone & charger. Talking to many people, packing can be a fear based process and you end up taking things because you start thing of the what if’s.
When we started walking, we walked out through the city of Ponferrada. In cities you really need to keep looking for the arrows or shells to guide you out of the city.
We did have to walk by the sides of the roads, so you need to be careful of traffic. There are so many churches of all sizes along the trails. Many locals will volunteer their time to stamp the Pilgrim’s Passports.
Walking along you greet other Pilgrims with “Buen Camino”. In the little villages you will see Pilgrims stopping at the little cafes for coffees, breakfast, and snacks.
By the time we arrived in Camponaraya we had to make a pit stop at the post office so I could mail some clothes home. In typical Sarah style, I sprawled all my belongings out on the floor of this tiny post office to sort what stays with me and what goes home. Locals are coming in to pay their bills and mail their letters as I’m doing this. Megan told me her cardinal rule of don’t keep anything white on the Camino, it’s just going to get totally dirty. I ended up mailing home 3.5 kg or 7.7 lbs home. I felt lighter both physically and spiritually getting rid of all that stuff.
We walked through the vineyards of Cacabelos and had the mountains surrounding us. It was gorgeous. Sonali picked a beautiful place for lunch. Megan ordered this gorgeous goat cheese plate.
I’m partial to this dish called Tortilla which is basically a frittata with potatoes and cheese.
Because we started late and I had to dink around with my backpack, we were now reaching the hotter part of the day. It got up to 87 degrees. So when we would reach a watering spot, we would put water on our heads to cool us off. We walked by the side of the road again and our final ascent was through vineyards.
The village of Villafranca is really beautiful and there was a large building in the town center.
We stayed at Albergue de la Piedra and totally recommend it. The couple that runs it renovated it themselves. The cool part about it is that it is built into the side of the mountain AND the rock is actually in part of the building as the wall. It looks gorgeous. Megan was excited because there was a kitchen in it. After being on the Camino for 19 days, she was excited to cook. She also said, that is the best way to meet people.
Megan and I went to the little grocer, bought veggies, chicken, rice, and tortillas to make up some fajitas. Megan was so happy to cook and she was right, we met a lot of really cool people. We met a mom and 12-year old daughter from Vancouver hiking the Camino. She heard about it when a visiting author came to her library and was talking about the Camino. She knew right then that she had to walk it. We met a guy from the Czech Republic who decided last minute that he was going to hike the Camino from Ponferrada to Santiago, the next day he was on the plane. Another couple we met, actually met on the Camino a few years back. She was from Brazil and he is from Newcastle, England. He said he actually met her the year before when she was working on the trail, but she was so busy she couldn’t really get to know him. He came back the following year and they have been together ever since.
Since we walked through the vineyards today, I wanted to taste the local wine. For 3€ you can purchase a bottle from the albergue. I bought one and it was fun to share with the people we just met.
I decided that everyday I walk, I’m going to walk for someone. Today it was for my Grandma Bellin, since today would have been her birthday. In moments as we walked in silence I thought of how she influenced my life. She always told you what she thought. She enjoyed to travel. She loved her husband, my grandpa whom she met on a blind date in college at the University of WI-Madison. She taught us to send out thank you letters in a VERY timely manner and if you didn’t you would hear about it. She never really complained. She was a member of the clean plate club always. I have very fond memories of her and am thankful she was in my life for a long time and that she got to meet my Gretchen.
Tomorrow we have a long, steep hike AND we plan on getting an early start. I’m looking forward to it.
Mama With Wanderlust 