Advertisement
Published: October 15th 2018
Putting On A Brave Face
Checking out the clothing requirements for today. Full wet weather gear.I ate pizza with Greg last night. He is straight forward and doesn’t want to mix with women on the Camino. They complicate his life. He values his independence. He never married, no children. Happy days.
I’m sharing a room with Greg, 2 Germans, and 2 Koreans. Guess who I was drawn to; Greg.
For starters, he’s the only one I can talk to, and he has led an interesting life, changed direction work wise, many times, and is interested in similar things as I am. Except Hawthorn Football Club; he doesn’t follow footy.
We went to the local pizza place, had vegetarian, chock full of asparagus, artichokes, and the usual fillings you expect, and chatted for hours about the Camino, our lives, families, in a way that indicates that in a day or so, we’ll never meet again. That was discussed as well.
I woke this morning at 5.30 am, to the sight of the German lady beginning the makeup ritual. You don’t see that often on the Camino. Usually, what you see is what you get. No time for that, plus it’s extra weight to carry. I waited until 6.30am, but after procrastinating and having
fruit and coffee for breakfast, I didn’t start walking until 7.40. Greg was still in bed, so there’s a strong chance that I won’t meet him again. He’s in no hurry and only walks short days. Bye Greg.
The rain was steady and constant. I remembered the way out of Ponferrada well, and carefully made my way along the wet foot paths and plazas, as the soles on boots tend to be slippery on these polished stone surfaces.
I enjoyed walking in the rain today. Leaving town , the rain splashe’d onto the paths from the unguttered roofs, bright coloured umbrellas appeared to glide and crisscross through the dark plaza, as if floating unassisted due to their dark clad owners, and it was very quiet, for nearly 8am. As I entered the park that linked me with the riverside paths, my attention was on the multicoloured layers of fallen leaves, careful not to fall, but enjoying the yellows, orange and reds that were reflected by the lighting. This was where I met my companion for the day, Blas.
Blas is a 40 something Catalonian from Barcelona. He walks a week of the Camino each year, and will
Basilica de la Encine, Ponferrada
The main church in Ponferrada. It is adorned with many references to the Knights Templar, and was well supported by them when they were involved with the Way. complete it in 2019. His English was better than my Spanish, and if I spoke s....l......o......w.......e.......l.....y, he understood me perfectly; most of the time. He explained his view of the independence movement in Catalonia, told me about his daughter who is going to study in Venice, told me Australia is a wonderful prosperous country, and the economy in Spain is in ruins. They have a brain drain after children finish education, because there are no jobs. England is the place to go.
We stopped for breakfast at 9.30 and had covered 12 kms in a little over 2 hours. He thinks I walk fast, as does he, and the time seemed to fly. A South African lady at an adjoining table asked where I was from, and then didn’t believe me when I told her. She knows some Australians and they don’t sound like me.I told her no one in my family sounds like me.
Blas, who works for the Barcelona Water Board, releasing and redirecting water , walked with me until Pieros, where I turned from the main road to follow the scenic route through small hamlets and vineyards. I’ve done this walk twice before and see
no reason to walk along a road. Blas was walking 10kms past Villafranca and wanted the shortest route. Fair enough.
The last 6 kms along these tracks, walking up and down steep, muddy, uneven paths was hard on my feet, and I did question the wisdom of my decision at times, but it had to be better than the road. Apart from me, only cyclists seem to be taking this route today.
I arrived at my albergue at 1.45, had covered 26kms, and was thrilled to be offered coffee or tea as soon as I walked through the door. The young owners, Livia and Unaided, are dedicated to providing a comfortable, welcoming break at the end of the day, and told me it’s hard work and a labour of love. How long you can keep it up is the question. They’ve looked after me 3 times, and I think a small gift is in order. I have a nice room to myself for €20 and it’s really revived me for a big day tomorrow.
I’m sitting in the Plaza Mayor writing this, and the crowd is growing. I had a delicious , large pasta salad with tuna,
The View Back To Where
I suppose I have walked over those mountains at some point. And much further. a coffee , all for €6.50 . Cheap. I may come back later for dinner but at the moment I’m full. I’ll do some food shopping and go cruising for a while.
I wore the boots today ( rain) , didn’t tape my feet, and I was fine.
I just thought you’d like to know that.
No rain tomorrow, so I’ll be back in the sandals.
That’s it for now.
Take care and I’ll check in tomorrow; wifi permitting.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.315s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 22; qc: 105; dbt: 0.1334s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.3mb
webyar
non-member comment
website
really thank you. I've been looking at this post very well in google and your story is the best. I'll name your site for recognition in class. I always do this for valuable sites so that others will enjoy your information. I'm happy to visit my site and tell me what disadvantages I have to deal with. طراحی سایت اصفهان