Day 33 - Templar Knights in battle

Day 33 - Acebo to Ponferrada

225 km to Santiago de Compostela

We started with a very nice day, walking on the road and with beautiful views of the mountains around us.  Soon we were off the road into the Camino path.  Steep and rocky but very beautiful. 

We passed the village of Riego de Ambros and the path got more difficult and soon the rain started.  I slipped on a  rock and fell but the only thing I hurt was my pride.  It took us a long time to get to Molinaseca which is fairly close to Ponferrada.  By then we were soaked.  I really did not want to take a chance of another fall for me or for her. 

We found a coffee shop, so we entered to get a warm drink and I asked the server if there were buses to Ponferrada.  He said no but that we could get a taxi.  There was a man with two ladies seating nearby and he got up and said "I can take you".  We introduced each other.  They were hospitaleiros, volunteers working at an albergue. He is a Spaniard, Javier, and the ladies were Betty from Ireland and Jenny from Australia.  After some friendly conversation they drove us to Ponferrada were we found a nice hostel next to the Templars castle.

Ponferrada, Pont Ferrada, the iron bridge, is a medium size city, big enough to find anything we need here.  We had some errands which we took care of.  Buy some food (hard to find open stores on the weekend in small villages), get some cash, buy new tips for my poles.

In the XI century, the river Sil was a big obstacle for pilgrims.  The bishop of Astorga ordered the construction of an iron bridge to facilitate pilgrimage.  Son a few houses were built by the bridge and later the Templar's castle and the town grew.  Today, the old town with the castle is on one side of the river and the modern city on the other.

Knights have always fascinated me.  After Jerusalem was secured by the crusades, pilgrims going to the holy land were often assaulted and often murdered even in large groups.  Hughes de Payens, a French knight recruited 8 knights among his relatives and started the order under the protection of Jerusalem's king.  The king assigned as their headquarters the Temple of Solomon.  The order took the name of the "Poor fellow-soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon" or the Templar knights.  They were warrior monks making vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and their mission was to protect pilgrims.

They became a very powerful army and they were key in the crusades,  on the Spanish reconquista (fighting the moors in Spain) and as protectors of the pilgrims (together with the knights of Santiago) in the Camino de Santiago.

The castle in Ponferrada is impressive by its size and its fortifications.  It also has an impressive library of mediaeval books.
We ended the day early because we have an ambitious goal for tomorrow.  We will see how far we can get.

Saint Bernard of Clairbaux, doctor of the church, you defined the rule of the Templar Knights and became their patron saint, protect our pilgrimage and pray for all pilgrims in the Camino and for us.

Day 32 - Brenda at the Cruz de Ferro

Day 32 - Rabanal del Camino to Acebo

243 km to Santiago de Compostela

Exhilarating.  That is the only word I can think for today.  It included everything el Camino his supposed to be: physically demanding, emotionally exciting and spiritually uplifting.

We started walking at dawn, the rain had stopped, after several days it really finally stopped.  There were some grey clouds but the sun was peeking here and there.  It was cold, around 0 C, we had all our clothes on.  The mountain wind can be very mean.  The trail was steep and with a lot of water, mostly a little creek running against us.  Huff and puff, two hours later we arrived to Foncebadon.  A little village that looks almost like a ghost town but they did have a warm albergue.  We stopped there for about 20 minutes, we talked to other pilgrims from Ireland and Spain and we had a hot drink.  That would be the last toilet for another 6 hours.

We came out of the albergue to find it was snowing, where did the sun go? The climb was steeper and the path still flooded.  It would take us almost an hour for the next two kilometres to Cruz de Ferro.  It was pretty tough going.  The backpack which we have managed to keep under 10 kg felt like a ton.

Cruz de Ferro, the Iron Cross is a simple cross on top of a 6 or 7 metre pole. (See the picture in the other post for today).  It is surrounded by a pile of pebbles that measures around 30 metres in diameter and two or three metres high. The original iron cross is from the XI century and is now in a museum in Astorga.

It is said that 2000 years ago people travelling west and crossing at this mountain pass, el paso Irago, would leave a pebble for good luck.  A custom probably adopted by the Celts that inhabited this region. The custom changed when it became Christianised. So pebbles from all over have been collecting there for centuries.

For us, modern Christian pilgrims the iron cross is a place where we bring a pebble from home - imagine, there are pebbles there from every corner of this world - and place it at the foot of the cross.  The pebble represents all the things that we want to leave behind, a cleansing.  At the same time we deposit the pebble we pray to God asking for forgiveness for all the sins we have committed through our life. After all, the pilgrimage is done for penance.  A pilgrim who participates in the sacrament of reconciliation, attends mass and performs an act of charity,  on arrival to Santiago gets plenary indulgence.

For me, praying at the foot of the iron cross and depositing my pebble from the Credit River, was very touching.  I cannot believe that this pilgrimage has had such an impact on my spiritual life.

The next stop was at Manjarin, still way up there.  It is an abandoned village with permanent population of one.  This man, Tomas, maintains a very basic albergue.  He does not ask for anything but accepts donations.  He follows the tradition of the Templar Knights by protecting and assisting pilgrims.  Unfortunately Tomas is in hospital in Ponferrada but a volunteer, Jose, has taken his place.  We went in to warm up and rest a few minutes.  Our Irish friend arrived soon after and three Italian pilgrims.  When I say basic, I mean basic, the water comes from a well and the toilet is an outhouse. Quite a place.  No question everyone is welcome there.

We walked down a bit and a last hill to climb and then down the hill.  A trail wet, flooded, rocky and very steep.  We tried to skip some parts by walking on a not very busy highway.  Suddenly it was 2 pm and we had not eaten since 7:30 am.  We decided to eat sitting in a rock.  The menu: a can of sardines each with melba toast and for dessert chocolate.   Still, it took us 2 more hours to get to Acebo our goal for the day.  The map says we walked 16 km, the pedometer says 20 km.  I believe the pedometer.  It was so nice when around 4 pm saw the little village down below in the distance.

 Acebo is a pretty nice little village, we found a casa rural with a really great room.  We even have a  big double bed (most double rooms have 2 beds), they are washing our clothes (you would not believe how muddy my pants were) and now we are showered and resting.  They will be serving supper in 15 minutes.  What a luxury.

All in all a fantastic day on el Camino de Santiago.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, you are always around when I need you.  I was so happy when I saw you image at the albergue templario.  Holy Mary mother of God pray for our family, our friends and for us sinners.

Day 31 on the way to Rabanal del Camino

We had to walk on the road because the Camino path was floded.

Day 31 -- Santa Catalina de Somoza to Rabanal del Camino

253 km to Santiago de Compostela

We started again almost in the dark, at 8 am,  just on time for sunrise.  The rain was still coming down but more gently than yesterday.  It would continue all day.  The end result, despite the rain jacket, the backpack cover and the poncho is that after 4 hours outside, the boots and socks are wet, the pants, the backpack and the shirt are wet too.  The rain does part and the sweat (which stays inside the rain jacket) does the rest.

The countryside is changing as we continue climbing the mountains of Leon.  There are much nicer views, more trees, and despite the water the walk is more enjoyable and I am feeling much better.  When we finished the 12 km for today, I was not as tired as yesterday and we did it in only 4 hours.

I think I am ready for tomorrow, we are planning for 16 km, which does not sound like much, but we have to reach the Cruz de Ferro, the Iron Cross, this cross marks the highest peak of the Camino and it has a special significance which I will explain tomorrow.  There is another climb after that so we have a little challenge in front of us.

We are now installed in a small hostel in Rabanal del Camino.  Miriam, our hostess, made a very nice meal for us: Vegetable soup and roasted chicken with a very nice salad. She has made us feel at home.  Right now we are the only guests. And we have WiFi!.

This village has only 59 people according to its website but it has a long history.  It started as an outpost of the Templar Knights from their castle in Ponferrada in the XI century.  This warrior monks were here to protect the pilgrims crossing these mountains on their way to Santiago de Compostela.  The town later grew to a population of 600 but in the last few years it has become just a stop for pilgrims.

After a nap we went to the monastery of the Benedictine monks for the liturgy of the hours, the vespers, there were a dozen pilgrims and it was a touching ceremony with the monks chanting in Latin.  At the end one of the monks gave us a beautiful pilgrims blessing.  Very spiritual experience.

Saint Benedict, patron Saint of Europe, pray for the monks at your monastery, all the pilgrims in this Camino and for us.

Day 30 - Astorga to Santa Catalina de Somoza

264 km to Santiago de Compostela

The plan for today is to walk only 10 km.  I was actually a little nervous when we started. Would I be able to walk? Would the vertigo come back?

We were out of our nice hotel by 8 am.  Still dark.  With the change this weekend of the clock forward dawn comes a few minutes after 8 am.  It was raining and the rain fairly hard would keep coming all day.  The clouds would also make for a darker, somber day. It was colder than yesterday.

We crossed the town of Astorga and finally hit the trail.  This morning we saw many pilgrims as they went by (we are slow, remember?)

Nowhere to hide from the rain until we arrived to the village of Murias de Rechivaldo.  We found a bar there so we entered to ask for a warm drink.  Soon after two other pilgrims came in.  They were Belgians and one of them was a priest, father Pete.  We asked and received a very nice blessing from him.

By noon we were at Santa Catalina de Somoza, our objective.  We quickly found an albergue that had a room available and we installed ourselves there.  We were soaked and cold. 

I was talking for a while to an older Spaniard. I asked him about history or legends of the town but he said there is no much history and no legends though he was an interesting man. We actually talked for quite a while.

The village is very small,  there is no WiFi, the TV in the room does not work,  so we stayed in our room most of the day reading and napping.  We did go down for lunch and we met another pilgrim from England, Joanne.  It looks like we have another 1/2 day of rest. 

Tomorrow, we have planned another short day, 12 km, trying to get used to walking again.  We are going up the mountains of Leon so it will be up the hill. The forecast is for cold and rain. 

Saint Francis of Assisi teach us humility and love to everyone around us.  Pray for us.