210 km to Santiago de Compostela
There has been some wear and tear on us and on the equipment. Both Brenda and I have some semi-permanently sore muscles. Of course I needed repairs a couple of times at ERs in Pamplona and Astorga. And we definitely have lost some weight which is goodness.
As for the equipment both pairs of boots are holding their own but we will need new ones when we get home. I am in my 3rd pair of rubber tips for my poles, Brenda's water valve from the hydration pack is leaking. Everything else looks a bit worn and tired. We have to last only two more weeks.
The walk today was mostly on pavement. By the time we walked out of Ponferrada, its suburbs and contiguous villages; Compostilla, Columbrianos, Fuentes Nuevas and Camponaraya we had walked 10 km. The last part was through vineyards and fields of fruit trees. We hear the cherries should be ready soon. Beautiful countryside but the trail very muddy. The terrain is hilly. Otherwise we could have been in the Niagara peninsula
We arrived to Cacabelos at around 2:30 pm and by then we had 16 km in our favour and I was tired so we found a nice hotel and camped there.
Cacabelos is a 5000 people town and it started as a Visigoth village. As many others it took its name around the XI century when pilgrimage to Santiago was in its golden era and the village grew as a stop for pilgrims.
We asked where we could go to mass and we got directed to the church of Santa Maria. We were told mass would be at 7 pm.
We decided to have an early dinner around 5 pm. We found some restaurants closed (Spanish people eat late so restaurants close between lunch and dinner). So we found a place open and we had paella.
At 7 pm we were at the church and we found out that Spain changed the clock a week ago but the church did not so the 7 pm mass would be at 8 pm.
By now the clouds were gone and the sun was out. We went to the little plaza, bought some churros and sat to enjoy the sun. Soon a lady in her 80s came and sat down with us. Talk, talk, talk. When she decided to leave she made sure she got kisses from Brenda and me.
The church of Santa Maria is Romanesque. It was consecrated in 1109 but only the part back of the altar remains .The rest was replaced in the XVI century. The church was full, mostly older people. It was a nice service.
Walking to the hotel we passed by the street that had all the central restaurants and we found there some kind of celebration today so there was a good number of people and they were wearing folk dresses, even the kids.
Holy Mary mother of God pray for our family, our friends, our priests and nuns, for our fellow pilgrims and for us.
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