Fiona Boult

Left the hostal at about 6.45 with weather app warning of rain in 13 minutes. However , as we stepped out of the hostal it was clear the weather app was wrong. It was already raining hard and very wet underfoot. Hooded hunched figures were wandering around looking sad. One elderly French lady said she had no rain gear. With the temperature around 6c this was worrying. The overall feeling was positively mediaeval. Even with advanced rain gear I felt closer to the pilgrims of former times than I ever have done before.
Anyway set off trudging up the path towards Cruz de Ferro. Not as steep as I remembered and in fact as I couldn’t see anything due to the mist and rain nothing much was as I remembered.
Cruz de Ferro is an iconic moment on the camino. You are meant to see the sun rise there and leave behind a stone or something from home (physical or spiritual). Both times now I’ve been able to see nothing owing to cloud/ rain. Today I could barely see the cross. Ironically the day before was fantastic according to friends. I’ll just have to do a third Frances one day.
Pushed off from the top pretty rapidly as weather was vile. Very few people there, just a few baffled looking Koreans in ponchos and us.
Anyway after that things began to look up a bit as we soon came to Manjarin where a woman has a fabulous set up with a food truck and shelter with an open fire (see pictures!!). Absolute godsend today as yet again my hands were frozen. Had home made walnut cake and coffee and felt much more cheerful after sitting by the fire for a few minutes.
Hymn of the day was Eternal Father Strong to Save - which kept me going for most of the time while it was raining relentlessly and there were no views and no birds singing.
Then on down to the next town of O acebo for more coffee and. Vegan empanada to take away. Cafe Rosa, run by a Swiss man and Dutch woman, was very tolerant of the sodden pilgrims dripping all over their floor - guess they were doing a roaring trade in sustenance today!
The rain began to abate a bit after this and fairly soon I could see patches of blue sky and the. It was sunny for the rest of the walk.
Once it stopped raining it was a beautiful walk. I remember from last year how stunning this valley is and at last I could see it.
Shedding the rain gear was a joy (tho I am pleased with how well it worked - I didn’t actually get wet) and I eventually arrived in Molinaseca around 12 in warm sunshine.
It was too early to check into the hostal so I ate my empanada and then had a beer, bought more soap at the farmacia and had a cup of tea. All very good and probably even better after the hard start.
Have now washed me and clothes and waiting to eat.
Before eating I went up to look at the church. Had heard camino rumours about an American gentlemen called Tim who came back to Molinaseca after walking the camino. He opens the church at 5 every day and is there to talk to pilgrims.
The church was open - very Romanesque in design with a rather beautiful baroque alterpiece. Tim was there and we had a long chat after it started to rain. He was stressing how easy it is to come to live in Spain and how cheap the cost of living is in the villages and small towns. He has been made very welcome here in Molinaseca despite speaking no Spanish. He was an interesting man who has lived all over the world but says he has found his first ‘home’ here.
Dinner was another salad but sadly not as good as the one last night -but still okay.
Very tired again so another early night hopefully.Okumaya devam et