LIVE from the Camino Chrissy on the Camino Invierno

[Camino Chrissy]

My son and I arrived in Ponferrada yesterday and settled into our hotel room. We only had one afternoon and evening here as we'd been twice before and had already toured the well preserved castle.
We headed out to pick up groceries to take with us as our guidebook mentioned there was nowhere to eat on the way to, nor in in, the village of Villavieja, where we would be spending the night at the albergue.

The morning .leaving Ponferrada was drizzly on and off, but the temp was comfortable with no wind and it was dry by noon. We walked through several quaint villages with cute dogs, vineyards with grapes ready to be harvested, wide woodland paths, and eventually saw the first hints of the mining areas and views of the Cornatel castle high above.
The only animal we saw all day was a fox darting across the path into the woods, but we did have annoying flies bothering us for about an hour, which made me wish for a breeze to chase them away.

There were ten of us staying at the albergue that has sixteen beds. All were retirees from the Netherlands except for one younger gal from Germany. It is a newer, lovely property and reservations can be made. It has a full kitchen with everything needed for cooking. The fee is €10 and includes clean cotton sheets and new blankets.
The wifi here is very slow, so will send a variety of pictures later.

 

[t2andreo]

I SOOOO wish I was there. Of coarse, my responsibilities here still preclude that. But I am with you in spirit.

Buen Camino.

 

[Keyser]

Be sure to call to the Pilgrims Office in Monteforte and say hello to Fran. He is very helpful and loves to meet pilgrims.

 

[AnneMarie1]

Buen camino! I did that route last year -- in June there were cherries leaving Ponferrada. Villavieja has to be one of the best albergues anywhere! When I was there, there were only two of us. Anneke from the Netherlands was there when I arrived, and she was quite glad to know that yes, I had food with me, because she hadn't heard about the need to bring any. We're still in regular touch!