Molina Seca to Villafranca do Bierzo 30 k estd 8 hours

(I am in Palas do Rei trying to catch up the blog - Tuesday, Oct 13. I made 2 posts yesterday. John read over my shoulder and estimates at the rate I am going I will finish the posts sometime by Thanksgiving. I am having a blog anxiety attack -- not enough time, fear of typos and inelegant phrasing (I am editor by profession, for heaven´s sake), and a nagging sense that my posts are not terribly coherent. Thanks to those of you who commented -- I read those this morning and feel somewhat less anxious. However, I may switch to a more bulleted style to get caught up. Later I will try to edit and expand on things -- recollections in tranquility will have to wait til we get back.]

Wednesday. Oct 7
This will be a very long day of 30 k from Molinaseca to Villafranca do Bierzo. It was raining and looked like it might rain all day long. We started out for the Iron Bridge and saw a fellow pilgrim in pocho and iwth a stick and a scallop shell - symbols of pilgrimship - walking very rapidly and strongly before us. We thought he might be German -- short, very solidly built, very determined. We were to meet him again -- this is foreshadowing.

We got into Ponferrada and visited Templar´s Castle and the Cathedral and on our way out met a man seeking directions -- he asked in Spanish with a French accent so I switched to French and asked if he were from France. He said he was from Semillon and when I said -- ah, like the wine -- he was so pleased, and told John he should be proud to have a wife who knew about Semillong wine!

Lots of garden plots, hugh pumpkins, chili peppers, tomatoes, corn, chestnut trees galore, apple trees, fig trees, even quince -- a little paradise along the route.

In the villag4e of Cacabelos we met a Spaniard from Salamanca. We were now in wine country and as we walked through town and past a big open building saw two men makaing wine. One took a big wooden fork and put the grapes into a wooden vat with a press. Another man in rubber boots stood in the press and stomped the grapes! Just like Lucy in that episode about winemaking! Our Spanish friend chatted a lot with the men, then he asked if we would like a glass of wine. I thought we were going to a cafe. Suddenly the man in the rubber boots jumped out of the vat, came down to the floor level where we saw a hole in the concrete floor that was cathcing the juice from his stomping. He grabbed 3 glasses, knelt down, put one glass at a time into the hole in the floor. He put the glass in the wine up to to his wrist and kept moving the glass through the wine to avoid the sediment still floating. Shortly we had 3 glasses -- full to the brim -- so we said Salud! and drank the new wine. It was delicious and also the most wine I have ever drunk at one time.

I was starting to tire, feeling like I had blisters --yikes! So on we trekked.

Nearly made a mistake -- someone painted false yellow arrows to get people to their inn. John noticed the color was little off and the arrows looked sloppy. So we were able to stay on the right course. Even in the Middle Ages, innkeepers did similar tricks!


Got into Villafranca and stayed at the Hotel San Francisco. Another hard day tomorrow.