Ponferrada, Day 28

We woke up early to catch the sunrise at a cross at the top of a mountain today. At 5:50 alarms went off and people began to sort their belongings and pack up for the day.

We walked quickly through the dark, along a dirt path, following the headlamps of some people that had left before us. After about twenty minutes of walking we reached the cross.

I don’t know much about the significance of the structure, but it is called Cruz de Ferro and it seems to be significant to different people for different reasons. There is an article that describes some of the detail behind the cross at the highest geographical point along the Camino Frances, here.

I took out my rock and spent some time thinking about the trip so far. This became a camp-like moment for me, and so I went with it. I reflected on the journey and what was yet to come, and what the near future holds. I left my stone near the top and Paisley and I continued on, with the sunrise at our backs.

We walked for a few more hours until we reached El Acebo, where we stopped to join our friends for breakfast. They mentioned that this albergue served amazing breakfasts, and we were excited to give it a try.

We walked up a winding driveway to a beautiful new building with large glass windows and a bright green lawn. Out front, a patio with fifty tables were organized, some of which were under a large tent to protect visitors from the sun.

Our friends were the only ones there, so we dropped our bags and went inside to pay 5 Euros for an all-you-can-eat buffet of breakfast food.

I was not able to have everything, but I took a few muffins, cereal without milk, orange juice, bread and ham, and three espressos out to the front lawn with me. Paisley and I went back for coffee once more.

We continued to walk, and the next stretch got easier as time went on. Soon it became like walking on clouds. Before we knew it, we reached Molinaseca. We saw a river flowing under an old bridge, with lovely grass on each bank, so we sat down to soak our feet for a while.

We walked a little bit more and finally reached Ponferrada. The heat from the day was a bit overwhelming, but it felt good to sweat. Some friends of ours wanted to walk a few more kilometers to a Decathlon store for a new pair of shorts, so we joined along after checking into our albergue.

We headed out, only to realize that the day was becoming more and more hot. The longer we walked, the more we questioned if it was entirely worth the trip. We eventually reached Decathlon, walked around, and then went into a next-door McDonald’s for some food. We sat and ate and then got beers to go for the 3 km walk back to the albergue. We also stopped at a grocery store near our albergue and then proceeded to buy and eat an entire watermelon. It was delicious.

After showering and getting ready for the night we joined our group for dinner and drinks. We decided to order kebabs, which were delicious.

The next day will be at Trabadelo if we can make it that far.