Spain
Iglesia de San Andrés

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    • Day 22

      Ponferrada

      May 14, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

      Heute Nacht habe ich dann lieber im Aufenthaltsraum geschlafen als im bezahlten Bett. So was von laut wurde geschnarcht 😳

      Aber zum Glück hatte ich es dann früh nicht weit zum Kaffeeautomaten 😂😂

      Ponferrada war auch sehr angenehm und ich musste quer durch die Stadt um den nächsten Geldautomaten zu finden, hab somit aber mehr von der Stadt gesehen als die anderen Pilger ätsch 🤭🤭🤭🤭

      Nach der Stadt ging es heute wieder viel bergauf nach all dem gestrigen bergab 🤔und ab elf Regen Regen Regen.

      Aber Natur war heute wieder wirklich wunderbar und abwechslungsreich.
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    • Day 31

      Day 29 Ponferrada

      October 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

      It was drizzly today and cool, but I caught a few glimpses of blue sky in the afternoon. I had a cappuccino at a funky little cafe called Chocolate an Churros across from the castle and after that I took a walkabout in the downtown area and took some pics of interesting things. Then I ventured back to the historic district, where I visited Iglesia de San Andres (17th century baroque style alter), the Basilica Nuestra Senora de la Encina (16th to 18th centuries, built atop the 12th century church of Santa Maria),
      the central Clock Tower, the
      Ayuntamiento (municipality) of Ponferrada, and the
      Real Cancel (the old Council Palace and Royal Prison), now the Bierzo Museum. In between I did a bit of souvenir shopping and enjoyed visiting with the gracious shop owners. I topped the day off with a pic of the castle all lit up.
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    • Day 43

      Ponferrada (15.2km / 561.9km)

      May 25, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

      We couldn’t stop taking photos on this walk. Starting with the sunrise behind the mountain and then the gorgeous landscape as we descended into the valley. The scenery helped keep our minds off the steep downhills! At times the path was very rocky and we had to walk quite slowly.
      They were difficult walking conditions but we managed well and the new shoes continued to do well! Such long steep downhills have taken their toll on many walkers doing too much too fast so we were happy to be in good shape at the end.
      The architecture in the villages was unique to the area with timber cantilever balconies into the stone walls. Amazing they have lasted so long.
      We stopped at the bottom for a coffee and cake before heading into Ponferrada (Albergue Guiana). After showering and washing clothes we were starving so decided to get a series of Tapas for our main meal of the day including a yummy Salad, calamari, chorizo, spicy potato and red peppers!
      We then visited the Medieval Templar Castle. Not castle ruins for a change but a complete castle. It was sooooo impressive and regarded as the finest in Spain. I’m sure it is the scene of many movies! Just thinking the Templars and the castle were purely there to protect the pilgrims is quite humbling.
      We headed into the reasonably modern city for some necessary purchases before going to mass in the Basilica and then ending the day with Churros at last! The churros were average but the chocolate sauce was like a light mousse. James and Tammy joined us as we will be in different villages for the next week. The prices are really reasonable too! I can’t remember when I last paid euro 2.50 for a whisky or 1.80 for a glass of wine.
      We are really enjoying the shorter distances now as we arrive at our destination at 1pm or so and still have energy to walk around the town.
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    • Day 34

      Ponferrada

      October 8, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

      Dzisiaj bardzo zatęskniliśmy za meseta. Resztę opowiem później.
      Bardzo pięknie i prawdziwe oddają nasza dalszą drogę komentarz Piotrusia, Astorga a później katorga. I tak dokładnie było. Do Rabanal było w miarę ok ale później droga zrobiła się bardzo mało przyjazna. Dość duży kąt nachylenia, wioska Foncebadon generalnie opustoszała z jedną albergue i barem i wijącą się w górę droga wśród kamienistych domków. W alberguy na półce znaleźliśmy oprócz dobrego piwa bardzo stare wydanie polskiej książki Historia Piastów Jasienicy. Jako ciekawostka wioska ta występuje w książce Paolo Coelho Pielgrzym chyba.
      Potem wspinaczka do krzyża gdzie był czas na złożenie naszych i powierzonych nam kamieni dokładając się do zbudowanej dość dużej góry przez właśnie takie kamyczki. Jest to ponoć najwyższy punkt na Camino, 1505 metrów.
      Potem zejście w dół wydawać by się mogło że pikuś a tu nic podobnego. Było to bardzo długie i żmudne schodzenia po drodze, która trudno było nazwać drogą, była to ścieżka z nierównych płyt kamiennych różnej wielkości głazów i kamieni. Jedno co, to widoki prześliczne i one rekompensowały wszystkie trudy. Niestety dystans też nie był przyjazny, po przejściu 35 km mieliśmy bardzo silna zimę w oczach a w nogach watę. Minęliśmy parę wiosek po drodze nawet powiedziałbym urokliwych szczególnie podobała nam się dość osobliwy postuj w Manjarin,który generalnie składa się z jednej albergue która dowodził Tomas, który uważa się za ostatniego Templariusza. Bardzo urokliwe El Acebo z dobrym barem i widokiem na góry oraz Molinaseca z urokliwym starym miastem.
      Dotarliśmy w końcu do Ponferrada. Jedynym zabytkiem koło którego przeszliśmy był zamek templariuszy zachowany w całości. Ponoć był podobnej klasy zamek w Syrii ale ISIS najpierw go zrabował a potem wysadziła w powietrze.
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    • Day 10

      Ponferradan cuisine

      May 28, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F

      So I’ve had breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, and luncheon…I think I’m going for it!
      Just have to do afternoon tea, dinner and supper! My afternoon tea was a McDonalds Coke Zero after hiking to a mall in 96F to get a replacement back up charger cord. Dinner was an apple. Ah but Supper was special. I ordered a dish called El Rey del Bierzo. Bierzo is the local agricultural and cultural region. For 17.50€ you get the dish El Rey del Bierzo which includes a special local sausage called Botillo del Bierzo, cabbage, garbanzo beans, potato and a piece of local chorizo. You also get a bottle of local red wine, dessert and coffee. The El Bierzo region, made up of 38 municipalities located to the west of the province of Leon (Castile-Leon), Spain. Botillo del Bierzo is a type of smoked sausage which is stuffed into pig’s cap (caecup), a large diameter pouch which is the beginning of the large intestine. The weight of Botillo del Bierzo averages 1 kg (2.2 lb).The required amount of rib meat 65-90%. The required amount of tail meat 10-20%. Trimmings from the following parts may also be incorporated: tongue, jowls, shoulder, backbone meat. Here’s the recipe:

      Calories: 230

      Servings: 10

      Prep time: 72 hours

      Cook time: 2.5 hours

      Nutritional information
      Meats Metric US
      Pork ribs 700 g 1.54 lb
      Bone-in pork tail 100 g 0.22 lb
      Tongue 100 g 0.22 lb
      Meat trimmings 100 g 0.22 lb
      Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat

      Salt 18 g 3 tsp
      Cure #1 2.5 g 1-1/2 tsp
      Pimentón, sweet 15 g 3 tsp. (Paprika, which comes from here!)
      Pimentón, hot 10 g 2 tsp
      Sugar 5.0 g 1 tsp
      Oregano, rubbed 2.0 g 3 tsp
      Garlic, minced 20 g 6 cloves
      Instructions

      Chop ribs and tails into 2 cm (3/4") pieces. The bones are not removed.
      Chop finely other meats.
      Mix salt, cure and all spices with meats. Place in a food grade bag in refrigerator for 12 hours.
      Stuff firmly into pork bung.
      Smoke with oak wood at 18° C (64° F) for 1 day.
      Dry at 16-12° C (60-54° F) for 2 days.
      Keep refrigerated.
      This is a semi-dry product and must be cooked before serving.
      Notes

      Botillo weighing 1 kg (2.2 lb) is slow-cooked in pot for 2-2.5 hours. Green soups are added to pot 30 minutes before the end of cooking. Botillo del Bierzo is served in the center of a large clay pan with vegetables around.
      Botillo del Bierzo carries PGI, 2001 classification.

      I should also comment about the wine. This was the third time a bottle has been placed in front of me along with a glass and opened. I was kind of nervous….do I get one glass? Two? No one ever said. So I looked it up. In Spain, when wine comes with dinner, it’s a whole bottle. They do not charge by the glass or by portion of bottle (it’s considered rude). So if you want, you could try the whole thing. If there’s leftovers? That’s where Sangria comes from!
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    • Day 31–35

      Day 28 continued, Ponferrada

      October 18, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F

      I got to the Hostal early enough that I decided to check out my surroundings. I stopped at the tourist office first and found out that on Wednesdays all museums are free which included the templar castle. In 1178 the Templar Order and its knights were decreed to be the protectors of Ponferrada. These legendary knidht-monks were also the protectors of pilgrims across regions of Spain and Europe. The castle was built in different periods and styles from the 12th to the 16th centuries and is now a national monument. It encompasses over 8000 square meters (86,111 SQ ft). It took me until it closed to cover its entirety. It needed a separate footprint. The spiral stairs up to the top lookout were very steep and narrow but the surrounding views were well worth the effort.Read more

    • Day 27

      Ponferrada

      June 13, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F

      The first thing that greets us going into Ponferrada is the old Castillo des los Templarios
      I was really looking forward to seeing it and of course it is closed today because it's Monday
      I believe on my original schedule it wasn't Monday plus it was one of my possible rest stops...
      Do check out https://castillodelostemplarios.com/

      In any case I took as many pictures as I could and then checked out Basilica Nuestra Senora la Virgen de la Encina. Totally cool. More info can be found at https://basilicadelaencina.es/index.html#
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    • Day 23

      Gracias, El Acebo, buenas dias Ponferada

      August 22, 2022 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      I started just with the daylight today! It has really been the steepest and mot dangerous part of the whole Camino! For 2 1/2 hours I climbed down the mountains on slippery clay, rocks and stoned! 100% concentration was necessary not to fall down the steep hillside! As a reward I now enjoy a real „Latte Macchiato“ in front of THE castle of the temple knights! There we a mix of knights and monks between the 12th and 14th century and were also the protectors of the pilgrims! Wait for the stunning picture to cone …😇Read more

    • Day 22

      Day 18 - To Villafranca

      October 17, 2023 in Spain ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

      We had great intentions of leaving early, however that did not happen. We made it downstairs around 8:30 and even though we told them we didn’t want breakfast, Ana our hostess, had breakfast all laid out for just us. We did not want to hurt her feelings, so we had coffee, toast and jam.

      Because we were so late we used google translate to have her order us a taxi to take us 5km up the road to the next town - Ponferadda.

      Arriving in Ponferrada, we saw their ancient castle and saw their beautiful church. And we began our walk of 24+ Km for the day.

      Highlights of our 9am-5pm hike were as follows: a chicken burrito, our first winery, village church, joan fed the feral cats, and we had more hills than we thought. We walked more road today than the previous three weeks of walking the Camino.

      Arriving in Villafranca del BIERZO, a picturesque medieval town, nestled in the mountains where old Spain has been restored for all the pilgrims to enjoy.

      We walked thru the village, and found the 1st bar on the right for our first cerveza of the day. We encounterd many pilgrims we knew from along the road, and one of our favorites, Carol from Wales, joined us for dinner. It was a wonderful night.

      Tomorrow we need to do at least 23km and trying to get an early start. Have a great day.

      Also…Julie figured out to watch Hallmark movies on YouTube and it’s brought a little bit of home to us as we unwind from the road.

      Buen Camino!
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    • Day 29

      Ponferrada Templar Dreaming

      September 16, 2023 in Spain ⋅ 🌧 68 °F

      Mark and I had quite a rainy adventure exploring the Templar castle in Ponferrada. It was a pretty brutal walk in rain down a mountain losing 2300 ft in elevation on slippery stones, so we are pretty hangry by the time we made it Ponferrada. But Spain never disappoints - every restaurant was closed and cafes weren't serving food again until 8pm! The Camino constantly pushes your buttons. Thankfully we found a pizzeria that opened a little early and fed us an enormous pizza and salad.Read more

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Iglesia de San Andrés, Iglesia de San Andres

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