The last two days have been skirting around those mountains that I love, a constant reminder on the horizon of what they gave me.
Yesterday I walked through Ponferrada and saw the most quintessential castle I have ever seen, complete with moat, archer turrets, and places to pour down boiling oil. It was built by the Knights Templar during the Crusades, completed in 1187. Ponferrada is another town that owes it’s settlement to the Camino, as it built up around a pilgrim hospital, church, and then the castle. It was raining off and on most of the day yesterday so the photos are rather grey, but it makes it dramatic!
A lot of the walking yesterday was along the edge of roads which makes my feet hurt and my heart heavy, but one consolation were the storks in every town and the poppies that were amok in the wheat fields!
I’m now in the valley of El Bierzo which you may have heard of for their wine. Although not nearly as popular as the Rioja/Tempranillo, they grow a grape here called Mencia, which is descended from the Cabernet Franc and said to have been carried here by a french pilgrim! I wanted to try some and read in my book that if I went in one wine vineyard store and said in Spanish “Do you have a glass of wine for a pilgrim dying of thirst,” they would give me a free glass and a tapa. And it came true!
I arrived in the town of Villafranca which is nestled down in a mountain valley. This is where, on a holy year, if a pilgrim is not physically able to continue all the way to Santiago they can finish with official recognition from the church. It is kind of an odd place, with 4 huge churches and a castle, and I can’t help but wonder what they were built to defend. There is nothing here but rolling hills!
The next stage has three options: follow the main road, take the old roman road which goes partially through the foothills before meeting up with the main road, or go way up into the mountains. Of course I’m going in to the mountains even though it is supposedly poorly waymarked and it is long (25k between towns). But my legs were sore yesterday after two long days and it was supposed to rain today, so I’m treating myself to the rest day that I skipped in Leon. That means my old group will catch up to me today, and I bet I can convince at least one of them to take the high road with me. I’m staying in the same albergue so I didn’t even pack my bag this morning, and I just slept in until 10:00! So wonderful! This town feels like a good place to rest, very calm and surrounded by nature. Does the body good!
One last thing; thank you to everyone who has sent me messages, made comments, or in any way connected with me. Those few times I find internet I can’t wait to download my e-mails and get your notes and encouragement. I’m sorry I don’t respond more directly, but they are all so so welcome!!
hey Nicole – what fabulous pictures. I think this part of the journey tugs at me the most yet. It is such a pleasure to follow your journey through your excellent blogging and contemplate how this process of walking so long and so far is working in your soul. And thinking that before you know it your whole reality will shift and you will be in Istanbul at your brother’s wedding, which we were talking about here in Sausalito where I have just landed. So needless to say, I have just left Maui and am back on the road for my journey. Lots of love flowing your way.
Aloha no
Maile
I’m thinking of trying that line, “got a glass of wine for a pilgrim dying of thirst?” At Fineline Bistro tonight or wherever we end up going to dinner.
Nicole –
Hey, remember me? I have been remiss in responding (1) because I have been really preoccupied with my Audubon duties and (2) because after Barcelona I have been trying to understand what you are experiencing. Your walk is quite a bit different from anything I have experienced.
While I have never taken a pilgrimage I have periodically throughout my life had periods of relative solitude, mostly in pristine natural environments and usually at altitude, which have lead to clarity of self. And it was these experiences that I formed an assumption about what was ahead of you. Your reports after Barcelona were quite different from my experiences and I simply did not have any ready response.
Your pilgrimage does not incorporate the solitude of either place or persons that I am familiar with. The landscape you are crossing is obviously beautiful, historically rich (the Roman remnants are just amazing), and culturally complex, they differ from the isolation and beauty of 11,000 feet in the Sierra’s. Likewise you are so surrounded by friends and fellow travelers it is difficult for me to see how you even have time for uninterrupted thought. I do not mean to impose my expectations/experiences on your pilgrimage, but rather to explain my confusion and reluctance to post comments.
Despite the variance, your response at the Iron Cross is very familiar to me, and demonstrates that the pilgrimage is bringing inner insight in spite of, or even because of, the complex living and social environment of your experience. I don’t really understand how you manage inner reflection in the midst of all the external stimuli you are experiencing – I suspect you may be hiking in solitude more than your dispatches suggest.
I have also had wonderful and insightful experiences with international travel and non-US friends. This has usually lead to the recognition that (1) other countries and cultures do many things far better than we do in the US (literacy in Costa Rica, childhood health programs in Brazil, physical health in all other developed countries, etc) and an understanding the US assumption of superiority is totally unjustified by the empirical evidence. On the other hand, looking back at my country while in the midst of another culture has also helped me understand aspects of American culture that I just took for granted and have come to truly admire. While I really do not consider these insights as inner insights – what is my nature – I wonder if you have begun having these comparative insights as well.
I do hope you will go for the mountains for the remaining portion of your pilgrimage because I know the natural environment resonates with you.
I also hope that after your return (are you going to return?) we will find an opportunity to share a campfire again and have an opportunity to reflect on your entire experience.
BTW, your Mom was here for three days earlier this week, and she is fine. Well, actually, she is silly proud of you and your achievements, but what can you expect from a Mom!
Your photos of tapas also bring lots of memories and thoughts, but I will leave those for later!
Keep trekking!
Bob