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 course, 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!

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 1-
Here are random pictures from my first day leaving Ponferrada to Villavieja. We had some drizzle on and off all day, but I always find things to photograph that has some interest to me.




End of day we neared the beginnings of the mining era.

 

[Simperegrina]

Ah, memories from March this year…

Buen Camino!

 

[jungleboy]

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.

Ten seems crazy to me but I guess most were in a group. We thought we were going to be alone at Villavieja until a Dutch woman came late in the afternoon to make it three of us. Great albergue! Wendy enjoyed putting her feet up (literally) after the day's walk:

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 2-
Today was a day of only about 17km, but it seemed plenty. It was another morning of drizzle, but thankfully on and off. We climbed up to the Cornatel castle after leaving the albergue, knowing it was closed, but we still had a few good views.
Leaving there we saw a Mojone pointing to the road to Borrenes, which was downhill so I started doing a bit of zigzagging to spare my knees. Finally we turned left at the town and continued on another little used road for over 7.5km, with both ups and downs continuously. Thankfully it was not a hot day, but it still wore me out. On and off throughout the day we saw huge chestnut trees, and almonds, walnuts and figs all over the ground.
Finally when we neared he village of Orellan, we stopped for our picnic lunch of seeded bread with Manchengo cheese and dark chocolate with nuts at a small church with a cemetery and a bell tower climb. I removed my backpack and started up the metal stairs until they started swaying, so decided to turn around before reaching the top as I can be a bit of a chicken.
Another 3+ km brought us to the amazing Orellan Mirador, the highlight of this day! We stayed a half hour gazing, taking it all in and felt quite lucky as no drizzle and a bit brighter sky for our time there made the bright orange "pop" in spite of no sunshine. The tour unfortunately as not open while we were there. When we left we took an interesting trail in the woods downhill to Casa Agoda in the village of Las Medulas, which is a wonderful place and our room had a private balcony overlooking some great views.

 

[VNwalking]

Ohhhhh. Wonderful.
Buen camino to you both!

(Wait, Chris, didn't you just do the Sanabrés? Lucky you. Really looking forward to your photos.)

Edited to add: look at those chestnuts! You wouldn't want to be under one of those trees in a windstorm right now.
And...ten at Villavieja??

 

[Pilgrim Patricia]

Thank you so much for your narrative and the fantastic photos! I looked up Las Medulas and found this article which talks a bit about gold mining during the Roman Empire: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Las_Médulas

 

[JennyH94]

Have a wonderful camino Chrissy!

Best, best wishes to you and your son -

Jenny xx

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Ohhhhh. Wonderful.
Buen camino to you both!

(Wait, Chris, didn't you just do the Sanabrés? Lucky you. Really looking forward to your photos.)

Edited to add: look at those chestnuts! You wouldn't want to be under one of those trees in a windstorm right now.
And...ten at Villavieja??

Those chestnut trees are absolutely amazing with their humongous twisted ancient trunks, but still producing shiny leaves with beautiful chestnuts attached.

 

[bestfootforward]

Top pics! Beautiful countryside and rain always adds another, I think very aesthetic dimension

 

[Elle Bieling]

Looks lovely! Buen Camino!

 

[t2andreo]

Day 1-
Here are random pictures from my first day leaving Ponferrada to Villavieja. We had some drizzle on and off all day, but I always find things to photograph that has some interest to me.
View attachment 178056View attachment 178057View attachment 178058
View attachment 178059View attachment 178060
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End of day we neared the beginnings of the mining era.
View attachment 178062

It is interesting to point out that, before arriving in Galicia, much of the stone work (roofs, paving, walls, decorative stone work, Camino distance markers - mojones, etc.) is SLATE, as that is the dominant type of stone quarried in the east.

Once you enter Galicia, the stone work changes to granite - the most prevalent stone quarried in Galicia.

Just a note of interest.

Tom

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Day 3-
Today we walked from Las Medulas to Sobradelo at about 20km. We woke up to black skies at 6:00am this morning with high winds and rain. I had my ear buds in so had heard nothing, but we found out there was a terrible storm last night that took out the power of the whole village. We used our phone flashlights to get dressed and we left at 8:30 in rain and wind that lasted over two hours.

However, It was a great walk today. The sun came out by noon and the temperature was perfect as I peeled off layers. There were beautiful mountain views with a couple of villages nestled in the distance.The trail was wide and mostly made of pulverized tiny pea gravel, so our shoes never got muddy. The storm left huge amounts of figs, almonds, walnuts and chestnuts scattered over sections of the path for miles.

I have a "thing" for rocks and the bluestone and colorful shale were spectacular to me as it was everywhere. In fact, as @t2andreo mentioned, the mojones were made of the bluestone; a first for me to see in all of my Caminos.

The only animal we saw today was one lone deer down below in a valley. The trail followed the Sil river the last half of the way, usually above, and our B&B is right on the riverbank and located at the ancient bridge with a beautiful view from our room in Sobradelo.


Bluestone mojone.


Wall art along the way.



Sobradelo.