 Previous Day |
Ponferrada → Trabadelo 30.3 km (18.8 mi) |
 Next Day |
¡Caminamos, todos!
When I first entered the province of León, it didn’t seem very welcoming to peregrinos. The same could be said for the exit. Today is my last full day in the autonomous community of Castilla y León before entering the final stage in Galicia, and to make sure I didn’t feel an urge to return to this province, the sights on this stretch were sparse as sparse can be! It seems that the popular destination today is Villafranca del Bierzo, or at least that’s where the party-goers are heading. If I have it in me, though, I’d like to go further.
 |
On the way out of Ponferrada, I met two gals from Texas, who were not as surprised to meet a beaver on the Camino as they were to meet someone else from the States already! They had just started in Ponferrada. We walked and talked for a while, but they stopped for a coffee break in Fuentes Nuevas, which left me to strike out alone across villages, vineyards, and construction sites until I arrived in Cacabelos, hailed by my guide as the place to sample the cuisine of the region.
 |
The guide had deceived me! Cacabelos turned out to be a tourist trap! The prices skyrocketed and the quantity of food plummeted, as if squashed beneath a giant wine press! As the only patron of the restaurant at the unreasonably early hour of 12:00, I devoured my wee portion of caldo gallego to the holiday hits of Frank Sinatra and Michael Bublé. I asked the hostess why she was playing Christmas carols, and she said she just liked them! To that, I say, why not?
 |
I continued toward Villafranca del Bierzo, though my head had started to hurt, and I hadn’t realized that the mind games would continue past the Meseta. The Camino took a sudden 2K detour through the rundown town of Valtuille de Arriba, before reaching Villafranca, so named for the population of French peregrinos who built the town! I wish they’d stuck around, because what wasn’t closed was broken! For instance, I’d considered checking in at the Albergue Viña Femita, but it had burnt to the ground! I could see the scorched bunks inside!
 |
Villafranca del Bierzo does have a very important place on the Camino: it is home to the Puerta del Perdón, a doorway that grants amnesty to anyone too sick or injured to face O Cebreiro the next day. Basically, in the eyes of God, a peregrino who passes through the Puerta del Perdon but cannot continue, has done just as well as an able-bodied peregrino who arrived in Santiago! However, this, like the rest of the town, was closed. I guess that means no perdón for me!
 |
The party-goers caught up with me in front of the Puerta del Perdón and asked where I planned to stay. I replied that I hadn’t decided, which was true, because I wanted to stay in the place that no longer existed. That seemed to satisfy them, and I went in search of other options. Unfortunately, there were none to be found until Trabadelo, an extra 12K! I asked three different people for directions, because the route was not well marked at all, and all three pointed me toward the tunnel and a scary walk, pressed up against the wall!
 |
From the tunnel, the Camino turned hot and paved. The signs along the road read “Tramo Libre Sin Muerte,” and although that just designates catch-and-release fishing areas, all I could see was “Muerte!” But, I learned to be grateful for every puff of cool air, every bird voice cheering me on, and the water fountain in Pereje, which my guide told me to avoid unless I needed to visit. I needed to visit! It’s easy to miss these small things in a city, which is why it’s very important to get out of the city whenever possible! In any case, that water gave me strength to handle the last great challenge of the day: finding Trabadelo!
There was a Trabadelo rest stop 4K before Trabadelo, another Trabadelo rest stop 3K before Trabadelo, and a “Bienvenidos a Trabadelo” sign 1.5K before town. When I arrived at the Albergue Crispeta, hot, tired, and frustrated, there was no one there, only a note telling me to pick a bed. I wasn’t about to argue.
Trabadelo appears to be a logging town, judging by the huge log stacks along the street into town. I think I could make a decent living here if I stuck around. Maybe they’d even put me in charge or make me the mascot! That would be neat, but I’d rather not stop here permanently, like my two dinner hosts from Holland. They’d seen a niche in the Camino market and swooped in to create the Bar El Puente Peregrino, and boy, oh boy, am I ever glad they did!
They whipped up one sumptuous dinner for this tired beaver, starting with a hot vichyssoise soup and continuing with a huge place of salad, rice, rotkraut, and carrot quiche, all so full of flavors I’d never tried before! I stuffed myself silly while discussing comics with the bartender (he prefers the European versions of American comics). Then his wife brought out dessert: simple yogurt with wine-soaked pears. It was a wonderful way to conclude a trying day!
Maybe León is going to see me off nicely after all. Thanks, León! I’ve also successfully lost the party-goers and gained a new friend named Gonzalo from Andalusia! He kind of looks like Tommy Lee Jones and has a super snore-reducing machine that he wears at night! I can’t thank him enough for that! On that note, I’m off to rest up for tomorrow’s intimidating trek up O Cebreiro!
Buen Camino!
Previous Day |
Total Distance Walked: 590.5 km (360.6 mi) |
Next Day |