Camino Day Twenty Two

Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Foncebadon to Ponferrada
~28.2 km (17.5 miles)

Morning photo, all bundled up! I'm wearing my fleece jacket, plus rain jacket, and I was ready to put my hood on (over the hat, yep) as soon as we went out in the rain.

From my journal: It was hard to get out of the albergue this morning. Especially knowing the weather outside was probably awful (it was). It was chilly and foggy, but I don't think it every really rained on us, just sprinkled. Windy too. For the first time I wore my jacket & raincoat. And pants and hat. And all that was fine for most of the day.

Adam walking towards the Cruz de Ferro in the fog

The photo on the left is Adam, and I am in the one on the right.

From our guidebook: "This majestic spot stands 1,504 meters (4,934 feet) above sea level and a simple iron cross stands atop its weathered pole that has become one of the abiding symbols of the pilgrim way of St. James."

The pile of rocks and rubble are all from pilgrims who have left items there at the cross. Adam brought his stone from the Quillen College of Medicine campus. I forgot to get a rock before we left the United States, so my rock was from St. Jean Pied de Port or Roncesvalles. That evening, one of our pilgrim-friends from the U.S. told us he thought he missed the Cruz de Ferro, and was prepared to turn back. A woman from his church had given him a stone to carry, and though it was not physically large or heavy, it represented some very heavy stuff going on in her life. Our friend felt obligated to relieve her of those metaphorical burdens and was relieved when he came upon the cross and could deposit them there.

From an email I sent to close family members and friends: 

I love signs like this, to see where we have been (Jerusalem, in 2007) and to see where and how far we have to go (Santiago and Finisterre) on this trip.

This and the photo above were taken in Manjarin, which hosts a private albergue and a population of one (1). There is a small shop there where one can purchase various icons and religious paraphernalia, postcards, some snacks and water, etc. Gregorian chants are played on a tape player, and there is a trace of incense in the air. 

The clouds started to lift...

We can see more of the city (Ponferrada) below us...

Our view of the mountains to our left. There is a road between the ridge where we were hiking and the ones you see there.

The fog has lifted!

See the choices of bocadillos (basically, sandwiches on a baguette)? Not too promising for a vegetarian, even less so for a vegan!

I theorized that there was a recent festival or holiday in this village, as a bunch of yellow flowers was affixed to every doorway.

Tons of lavender!

We walked through this herd to follow the camino.

Camino signage

Beautiful old sweet chestnut trees (according to our guidebook)

17th c. Church of San Nicolas

Molinaseca

Puente de Peregrinos (Pilgrim's bridge), with a foosball table underneath. The church of San Nicolas is to the right in this picture, and we are looking back from where we just walked.

Patatas (potatoes) bravas 

This picture was taken around or before noon. I remember posting on facebook about eating potatoes and bread and drinking beer for lunch, and how this meal indicates that you are either hiking, in Europe, or both! 

I am updating the blog in January, and I couldn't believe that all of the above pictures were taken at the beginning of our day!

This is what a lot of little towns in the valleys look like. There are stone buildings and at least one square with a statue of St. James.

The above three pictures are the view behind our albergue in Ponferrada.

The guy on the left is one of the caretakers at the albergue where we spent the night. The other people are (left to right) Amber, Mitch, Steve, and Adam, all from the U.S.

From my journal: It took awhile to get our room, but I think we ended okay--we got in a room with only 2 bunk beds, "because we started in St. Jean." The Spaniard with us started in Roncesvalles. And Bridget caught up to us. So she's also in our room.

We had not seen Bridget (the Irish prison-librarian) since our stay near the church of the rocks. We also saw Regina, a German woman who we met in our first parochial albergue (above the cathedral, with the huge community dinner and laundry room with pigeons).

I remember that we got some good groceries in Ponferrada, despite not being sure of the directions to get to the mercado. The albergue had a kitchen, so we were able to make our own meal. The grocery store was pretty well-stocked, so we were also able to get fresh produce, good pasta and sauce, ice cream, and wine, as well as some toiletries there. This is also where we got to know Steve better, where he told us about his wife and kids, and the preparation he was doing to become a lay...something (deacon?) in the Catholic church.

Camino Day Twenty One

Monday, June 11, 2012

Astorga to Foncebadon

26.9 km (16 3/4 miles)

Morning photo in Astorga

The way goes past this store. At the bottom of the window sign it says "Buen Camino!"

Many pilgrims stopped here to get some hot food for breakfast.

 I am not sure it is visible in the photo, but there is a rainbow in that gray sky in the center of the photo.

From my journal: We walked in the rain today, more rain than we have seen so far. It was cold, too. 

Today we saw at least three rainbows. It was so great. Interesting too, b/c the posts with the shells on them also have rainbows painted on them.

lavender plants (I think, correct me if I'm wrong)

You can see a stork's nest in the steeple here. We saw tons of these nests, perched high above us, and often on relatively small platforms.

Some blue sky on a rainy day

Dinner at the parochial albergue. See that HUGE pot of spaghetti on the right?! 

The guy on the left is from Costa Rica and the young lady is our friend Erle, a Norwegian student who is traveling all over the world during her gap year.

One big happy family, eating dinner together!

From my journal: Just 9 more days until we reach Santiago, 9 days until my b-day. We have been in Spain 3 weeks now, I think. Crazy! It seems like its been forever. 

We have had dinner and everyone is settling in. Adam went to watch the [football] game with Erle. Dinner was amazing, and they offered a couple of vegetarian options for me (salad sin atun!). I am in a bit of an odd mood--there are 2 older ladies here who I feel don't like me. But one of the women from Greenland just gave me some cookies--it all works out, I guess :) 

The mother and daughter from Greenland were tense, as their items had bedbugs, and the girl lost something (I can't remember what, but they found it). They were still cordial with us and eventually worked things out between them, but the tension between them made it a bit awkward. The comment about the ladies who did not like me was in reference to these ladies who are probably in their 60's or 70's. When Adam and I were helping prepare the meal, one of them made a comment in Spanish about my lack of vegetable-cutting skills. It felt like we were teenagers and they were just trying to get under my skin. Later, they were washing dishes and I was trying to help, but I think I was splashing water all over the place, and they took the dishwashing back from me. Adam had his own issues with them the next morning.

It was at this albergue that we met a French guy who was running the trail and was planning to travel back to get married in France after his camino. His fiancee is American, and they live in California. We also got to know a Spanish lady (in the blue, behind Adam in that picture just above) who was walking with the lady in red (I think). We talked about reaching the Cruz de Ferro (iron cross) the next morning and the stones we carried with us to leave there (Adam's was from his med school campus). The Spanish lady said, "You are supposed to bring a rock that is equal to the burdens you bear in this world. Bigger rock means bigger burdens. Me? I don't have burdens. So I will pick up a rock here tomorrow to leave at the Cruz de Ferro." 

This albergue is located in the mountains, and we were very cold there, as we had hiked in the rain. This was one of our coldest nights. I think many of our bunkmates tossed and turned and didn't get quality sleep.

Camino Day Twenty

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Villar de Mazarife to Astorga

31.2 km (19.4 miles)

morning picture: Adam, Rachel, and Lee at Albergue Tio Pepe

This was a Sunday morning, and these people were still out partying from the night before! 

At one point, I counted over 10 types of wildflowers along the side of this road. They were so cheery! So I started taking pictures of them, knowing I would eventually share them with you on the blog.

Hey there honey :)

Puente de Orbigo, dating from the 13th century

getting water at the fountain

Liz and Jody

Trail magic. Read about it here.

From my journal, about the trail magic: Talk about amazing. The guy had many kinds of tea & juice, cherries, dried figs, crunchy cookie-bar things, chestnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, water, and then his friend brought out curry and a green salad--Yum. It was perfect. They had a little labyrinth, comfy couches, benches, a hammock. And a compost bin, of course. It was so great for the soul. He even had a heart stamp [for our pilgrim's passports]. All for donations.

labyrinth

Cruceiro Santo Toribio

From our guidebook: "Stone cross commemorating the 5th century Bishop Toribio of Astorga who supposedly fell to his knees here in a final farewell after having been banished from the town. It is Astorga's Monte Gozo where we have a wonderful view over the town."

Palacio Episcopal (in Astorga), designed by Gaudi

Read the second line of this sign: You are not allowed to smoke, eat, or heal in the rooms. ?? Not sure if that translated correctly into English. I included the Spanish version of the sign below in case any of you reading this can translate it better. And if it is translated correctly...what?! 

Since we were in Astorga on a Sunday, only small markets were open for us to get groceries. Before realizing this, I stopped by a small mercado, getting just a couple of fresh fruits and veggies, then set off to find a larger grocery store. Upon finding the larger store closed--and not just for siesta--I roamed the fairly empty streets for a couple of minutes until an older gentleman, who was dressed to the nines in a suit and fedora (with a feather) as well as donning a ring on each finger, saw me and motioned me over to him. 

I was not alarmed, as I had seen this man in the lobby of the albergue when we checked in. He asked me a couple of questions (if I was a peregrino, I think he asked if I was German, etc.) and proceeded to give me a walking tour of the city! He first took me to a small church which was pretty unassuming from the outside, but beautifully decorated inside. Before I entered the church, he indicated something about the number seven, but since he was speaking 99% Spanish, I really couldn't tell what he was saying. So I sat in the church for a couple of minutes, and there he was, waiting for me outside. 

He next took me to some Roman ruins. I think he said something there about the 5th century and handed me a little piece of shale which he broke off from the wall. 

Next he took me to a couple of cathedrals (the Gaudi one pictured above) and another called Iglesia de Santa Marta. We did not go in, but he communicated (and I understood via hand gestures and cognates) that the architecture of Iglesia de Santa Marta consisted of a blend of Romanesque and Gothic styles, as well as another I can't remember.

It was at this point that I started to feel uneasy about walking around alone with this guy. He was not at all physically imposing, but I think because the streets were fairly empty (reminder: Sunday afternoon, plus a football/soccer game was due to start soon, so the bars were probably full) and Adam had no clue where I was, my instincts finally told me I should not let myself get into such a situation. A story came to mind in which Adam and a friend were invited to a "behind the scenes" tour of a pyramid, during which they were cornered and the man demanded compensation for the tour.

Fortunately, another peregrino from a northern European country (I honestly cannot remember which one) saw us and joined us. She said something in English to the effect of, "Oh! I've read about this guy! He is like the unofficial tour guide of Astorga!" We were back near the small grocery store at this point, so I begged off, telling them that my feet hurt (which they did, a little bit) and that I had to get back to eat something (which was also true). The other woman's friend joined her, and they happily went off with the "tour guide."

I didn't get a picture of him, but I just googled "unofficial tour guide Astorga," and another woman had written about him as well! Unfortunately the link to her blog did not work. I had hoped to send you to her blog so you could see a picture of this guy! Also, I honestly don't believe he was dangerous, but this situation helped me realize I have to practice saying "no" to strangers and putting my safety above their feelings. 

I found this from a later day in my journal: We stayed in Astorga, which is a beautiful city. There is this older guy who dresses up really fancy (hat w/ a feather in it, suit, rings) and loves to give tours of the city to peregrinos. He was quite sweet, but it was like a guerilla tour, and I eventually backed out because I wasn't sure how much of it my feet could take. Also, I thought he might ask for money at the end, and I really didn't want to pay.