Villafranca del Bierzo

I am sitting in Cacabellos waiting for my dinner.

I started the day at 8am again. I started out in the city, but a couple times I blindly followed someone else with a backpack and soon realized I didn’t see any arrows. I was lucky I had the wise pilgrim app which shows the trail and where you are on it. So I could get myself back on track again but probably added maybe a kilometre extra to my day.

The scenery today wasn’t anything spectacular so there is no video, only a few pictures. I took my time as I knew it was a short day, but I was also conscious of the time as I wanted to be here around 1pm as after that, the sun becomes unbearable. It is unseasonably warm here. It is still close to 30 everyday.

Last night I booked my hotel in Santiago. I have booked it for Sept 12-15 so now I really do need to arrive on the 12th. On my first break of the day today, I sent a message to the tattoo artist I wanted to go to and I have an appointment for 10:30am on September 13th for my tattoo. All my plans are coming together nicely. I have around 190kms to go.

Also on that first break, I decided to send an email to the Albergue in Cacabelos again asking if they are open and if I could have bed number 19-20. I had sent them an email a week ago, but didn’t hear back from them. In the email, I had explained that I stayed here in 2009 with my husband and that he first told me he loved me here and that he died this year. I said it would be special if I could stay again. Last year, they had closed in September so I wasn’t sure if they would be open. I also didn’t hear back from them today either.

When I got to town, I walked through town to the albergue and I could see that it was open. I went inside and the woman in charge asked me to just sit on the bench while she showed the other people their room. As I was sitting there alone, waiting, I started to cry. I think part of it was the release of the stress knowing that it is actually open. When she came back and was checking me in, I asked if I could make a special request for bed 20 and she asked me if I was Julie. She had read my email so she understood.

She was very kind, we talked about Jörg and she asked how he died. When we got to the room, she said “this will be sad for you”, I said “yes”. She opened the door and then left me there and said “I wish you a good life”. I went inside and just sat for awhile, then I just lied down for a bit. Finally I got up, and then put my headset on and watched the video from Jörg’s celebration of life and had another good cry.

It was time to venture out. I met up with Jenna and had a beer and we talked about Jörg. I showed her pictures from when we were here and showed her our wedding photos. It was very nice. She has been very kind and supportive. Now I am waiting for my ravioli starter and haven’t decided what I will eat after.

Tomorrow will be a long day. I can do anywhere between 18-25km. I think I would like to do the 25km, but I will gauge it tomorrow.

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