Day 42 through 44, Up a mountain, down a mountain

June 28th through 30th, Astorga to Rabanal del Camino, to Molinaseca, to Ponferrada

220 km from Santiago, 733km from start

Distance: 21km,27km, 8km

We woke to a great sunny morning and I felt much better. We were off again. After ditching the PC in Madrid and reallocating things, our bags felt much lighter and made the walk easier....a good move.  The day was mostly up, but gradual through rolling hills and Maragato villages.

The Maragato are a mountain people living in this area.  They were the "muleteers" of medieval Spain.  Muleteers were the "eighteen wheelers" of their day . . . trucking goods, ore, and produce across the country.

After 9 km we reached the village of Santo Catalina de Somoza.  Just outside the village, a man was selling walking sticks.  Throughout the trip, we´ve seen several folks using the hightech two-stick approach or a traditional pilgrim´s staff.  Our guidebook recomended one to help ward off dogs.  So far the dogs we´ve met have been far more interested in sniffing and scratching their backsides than chasing us....so we said "No, Gracias".

Shortly after Santa Catalina we reached El Ganzo.  It´s a tiny village but had "The Cowboy Bar" as a main attraction.  It was painted white, with saddles, spurs, and other wild west bric-a-brac. No American could pass without at least ordering a beer . . . we were Americans.

We got to Rabanal del Camino about noon.  It´s small and connected to the rest of Spain only by a country lane and the Camino.  Like other Maragata villages, it was all brown stone and sturdy.

We found our hotel and while having the daily "well done" beer, heard folks behind us speaking English.  Tom and Bailey were a father/daughter pair from Seattle.  That was plenty for a good long afternoon conversation and the promise of dinner that evening.

The village was host to a German monastery that had nightly vespers and a pilgrim blessing. It was a wonderful experience.  Held in the small unrestored  church, three monks conducted vespers in Gregorian chant.  Remarkable.

The next day was one of our best on the Camino.  At 26 km with a high mountain pass to cross it was also one of our toughest. It started up immediately but the sky was blue and the weather was cool and comfortable. Some clouds clung to the pass we headed toward, but cleared as the morning warmed and we were treated to some great views.

We reached the peak and Cruz de Hierro after two hours.  It´s one of the traditional highlights on the Camino.  Since Celtic times, people have brought a stone from their homes and left it as a symbol of thanksgiving for safe travel.  It´s now a very large mound of small stones with an iron cross at the top.  Marie laid a stone from Chicago, a stone for Sue Fife, and a palm cross from Kim Ryder.  I left a stone from Columbus.

The rest of the trip was along mountain paths and through two very nice alpine villages.  The last two hours were sharply down into the Molinaseca and the Bierzo valley. Molinaseca is a well restored village on the banks of the Rio Maruelo.  They damn the river each summer just beyond a medieval bridge and it makes a great swimming hole.  After a post-hike rehydration session, I took a dip.  Felt great. A good dinner topped off with the local liquour ended a fine day.

Saturday was a short hike into Ponferrada.  It´s a big town with lots of history and we were looking forward to seeing the sights.  The city was hosting an exhibition on the history of the pilgrimage called "Yo Camino".  We visited several museums along the way with paintings or sculptures missing and on loan to this show and had been looking forward to seeing it for some time.  It didn´t disappoint and knitted together the history and the modern Camino experience very nicely.  It also really brought home how close we were to geting to Santiago.  A good boost.

Lunch int he main square included the local treat "Pulpo de la Galaga".  (Octopùs done the Galacian way).  It was slices of steamed tentacles served on potato wedges sprinkled with paprika. Very exotic but later that evening the tentacles reached out and grabbed Marie.  That´ll probably be her last Pulpo.