To Ponferrada

Today, on the way to Ponferrada I made a pit stop at the municipal Albergue in Molinaseca. 

What did I find in the yard but this extremely talented woodcarver working on an incredible Buddha he was carving into a living walnut tree!  The artist is from Japan and I'm sad to say the danged autocorrect on my iPhone has misspelled his name to the point I can't figure it out. If you know, please post it. 

We had a nice easy walk today. Pat and Chantal made friends with a family of statues and Barbara made us laugh wooing the second statue man! She keeps us in stitches, that's for sure!  We love her!

Everyone got checked into their hotel and I found my room, had lunch, and treated myself to a long, hot bath!

Heaven !

My toe is better today. I had heard of a blister treatment technique where you pull a thread through the blister using a threaded needle, and leave the thread hanging to pull the moisture out. I tried it. Seems to have helped. Time will tell. 

Tomorrow looks like rain for our walk to Villafranca.  I'm going to try to get out of here early so maybe I can at least make it to Cacabelos before the rain starts. 

Buen Camino!

Annie

Molinaseca

It's 10 after 11. 

Why am I wide awake ?

I have no idea.

It was a short day for me. 

I only walked about 8 kilometers today. 

Barbara, Jack and I taxied the rest of the route. 

We arrived to a nice fire in the fireplace.  

 Such an inviting, comfie place! 

 Casa Reloj is a beautiful old farmhouse filled with antiques. 

It's fascinating just to look around. 

It's almost like a museum. 

After settling in,

 we had a huge dinner at the Meson Ponte de Romano, 

famous for its food!  

Barbara and I had roast lamb. 

Jack had local trout.

 It was exceptional!

I'm sleeping in the crow's nest tonight.

 I just love this room!  

I consider these two rooms at the top of the spiral staircase

 to be the two best rooms in the house. 

You can look down over the rooftops of the village and dream. 

From my bed I can count the stars. 

And look who stood watch outside today!

What more could I ask for?

I love my life!

I am blessed!

Rabanal del Camino

The walk to Rabanal is flat and easy.

It is a pretty stretch. 

I was sad to see the beautiful old Pilgrim Tree blew down this year! 

 I sat and had lunch by the stump, 

remembering how majestic the tree had been in past years.

Joe at the Pilgrim Oak in 2012

 From the looks of it, though, it was completely hollow which probably led to its demise. 

A good reminder of how important it is not only to have roots, 

but a good strong core. 

The Pilgrim Oak 2014  :(

Rabanal is one of my favorite stops on the Camino. 

And El Refugio is my favorite  Hostal there. 

One reason is the staff. 

They are always friendly and helpful. 

Christina handles the rooms.

Her brother runs the bar. 

And man, oh, man, can her sister cook!

We had a great dinner! 

The fish soup is sooooooop good!

After a beautiful meal,

 most of my group attended Vespers at the church across the street.

 I stayed home and caught up on laundry. 

It was a good day!

Astorga

We are loving Astorga!  

Such a pretty town 

and we are staying at The Hotel Spa Ciudad de Astorga.

 It's beautiful!

We spend a lot of time taking photos of our food!  Here are some pics of our lunch at - oh!  I can't remember the name!  I'll post it later. Barbara will know! She has become our chief navigator and is the person I ask when I need directions. That girl always has a map on her hands!  Above is Barbara in front of the Gaudi Palace. Looks like Cinderella's castle. 

A hot garbanzo salad. 

Ensalada Mixta

Mushroom soup with shrimp. 

Big juicy hake steak

Spaghetti 

Bacalau (salt cod)

This blog is becoming a food blog!

After lunch we went shopping. I had to buy an umbrella. I left mine in Logrono. Also, my wool undershirt bit the dust so I replaced it with a bamboo one. Bamboo! Sounds so bizarre. But it is soft and warm and the man promised it would last longer than the smartwool. 

We found Chantal the perfect backpack!

And I made a date with Merlin.  I , after all, husband hunting!  He promise to help me out!

We stayed in the square to watch the clock strike.  Turned out to be a non-event and nothing to write home about. I though those figures were going to chase each other around, not just strike the bell. Oh well. Now I can say I saw it. :)

Last stop was the supermarket for picnic supplies. Tomorrow we walk to Rananal del Camino. 

I'm ready!

Buen Camino!

Annie

Leon Cathedral

Beautiful!

  

In Leon

This morning's bus to Leon left at 5:25 a.m. and so we walked in the dark to the station.

 A bronze policeman stopped all traffic as we crossed the lonely square. 

Most of us caught a few more zzzzeeees on the trip. 

Then the sun made an appearance, and we began to stir. 

After a taxi ride to Hostal Don Suero, some attended Mass at the Cathedral chapel. 

Afterwards, we visited the Cathedral Museum. 

Once everyone was museumed out,

 we found a great lunch at the Restaurante Catedral. 

The best was the bean soup with clams!

Jack had Huevos!

Seconds included bacalau, my favorite, and pork shoulder. 

Some had salmon la plancha. 

For dessert, there was custard, flan, arroz con leche, and ice cream. Jan had a nice creme de limon!

Price?  11 euros!

I never tire of the food in Spain. Maybe that's why I'm not losing more weight???

Now it is siesta time until tonight's pilgrim Mass at San Isidro at 7:30 pm. Then, tomorrow we bus to our last rest day in Astorga. 

Soon we begin walking again. 

I'll post photos of the Leon Cathedral next. 

Love, Annie