Day 36. Cacabelos to Vega de Valcarce

We left Cacabelos this morning with the temps about 50 degrees. Very pleasant for walking. Crossing the Rio CUA out of town and back into the wine country. Rows and rows of grapevines and a few hills to climb. Villafranca was an interesting town. Castillo de Villafranca was on our path. It was built in 1515 over a previous fortification. We then had a second breakfast and came across Bernie from Austria. He said he was very tired, he hurt all over but he was very happy! I think we all are starting to feel the same way. He then proceeded to get a beer. It was 9 am! I came across a quilt shop in Villafranca! Unfortunately it was closed. About the last 3-4 miles, it started raining. We donned our rain gear and kept walking to Pensión Francisco in Vega de Valvarce. I can’t believe how wonderful it is. The host was very sweet and there were little treats in our room. And would you believe Bernie showed up here too. When he saw his room, he could only say how good the Camino has been to him! We also ran into Chen and Anna from South Korea today. They are staying in the same place tonight. We first met them on our 2nd day in Borda. We thought they would be so far ahead by now since we had to take 5 rest days in Burgos. What a happy reunion and to find them doing so well!
We had a wonderful dinner with mixed salad and seafood paella and Steve had to have the ice cream! Today we walked 16.59 miles (37984 steps). Hoping tomorrow will be a short day (12 miles) since we have a significant climb in the morning.
Today I’m grateful for the nice walk, grateful for the clean laundry(we splurged and had it done for us) and grateful for a full belly!Read more