Ponferrada - Peñalba - León

What a hassle! Iberia canceled our flight Bilbao-Madrid for June 19th. I spent 1-hour this morning on the phone between American Airlines and Iberia to book new flights and get seat assignments. Our return to the US is scheduled for June 17th, one day shorter than planned, with an estimated arrival in Dallas at 3:56 PM.

Before departing Ponferrada, we walked to town and had coffee and pastries at a unique bakery Kurt spotted last night on our walk home.

Around 10 AM, we headed for the nearby mountains for some hiking. The narrow, windy road quickly gained altitude, and the pressure in our ears needed several adjustments. After a 40-minute drive, we reached the cute mountain hamlet of Peñalba. The streets were cobblestone. The houses are built of local stone with slate roofs and wooden balconies.

Peñalba was born years ago by a small community of monks from the south. They used a cave about 4 miles away, on the other side of the Valley of Silence, for meditation. It was this cave that we planned to hike to today.

It was a beautiful hike in pure nature. On the way, we passed small vegetable gardens and apple, pear, plum, and cherry orchards and met two ladies with baskets filled with freshly picked Chanterelles mushrooms. I greeted a Chinese hiker lady with a friendly Nǐ hǎo (Hello) and earned a big smile! The cave was relatively small, with a couple of steps leading to a platform with an Altar.

Peñalba had a restaurant where we stopped to drink and eat before descending to Ponferrada and taking Hwy #6 to León. Our hotel for tonight is the Crisol Quindos, about 1.2 miles from the town center.

Dinner tonight was at La Bodega del Húmedo, which was recommended to us by a couple from León whom we met earlier in Peñalba. The food was OK, but we were not overly impressed with our ordered dishes.

Overall - another great day in northern Spain.Read more