Cruz de Ferro and descent to Ponferrada

The iron cross marks the highest part of the mountain pass and has become the place pilgrims leave behind a stone brought with them from home (or elsewhere) on the Camino. I brought stones from my birthplace the Isle of Sheppey (from the beach adjacent to the Catholic Church of St Henry and Elizabeth). I then passed through El Acebo a typically mountain village with rickety wooden balconies suspended over the road. Through Molinaseca; on to Campo; and finally to Ponferrada for the night. I am bedding down in the Albergue de Guiana. Ponferrada's Templar Castle is one of the best preserved examples of its kind and offers a glimpse into what castle life must have been like in the 12th and 13th centuries. Well enough of the history...my Albergue is 21st Century and while I've written this my washing has dried in the tumble drier!Read more