Jenny M

Camino – Villafranca (Day 24)

Date: Thu 30th May
Distance: 31 km
Temperature: Mild/Warm
Mood: Great
Left: Molina Seca 7:45am
Arrived: Villafranca 4:45pm
Santiago de Composela: 185 km
Highlight: Castillo De Los Templarios

Up and out, no breakfast as we had over 30 clicks to cover so an early start was required. Well early for us anyway! First up was the magnificent 12th century Templar Castle. Is this for real? Very much like our sand castles we still make on our beach holidays! Too early to visit, but we needed a stamp for our pilgrims “credentials” so decided on breakfast at a local cafeteria until the Turismo off ice opened. Got our stamp and off we headed for some more spectacular scenery. (As you will see from the other photo’s, spring has certainly sprung in this part of Spain as all the roses have blossomed).

As you do on the Camino, you come across interesting people, today a lady was selling slices of home made cake to pilgrims. How could one resist!

It was a long day and our feet were definitely getting very tired! We finally marched into Villafranca just as it was getting warm! As it turned out, our accommodation was at the other end of town, so another km later we checked in, showered and forced ourselves out for an early diner in the main Plaza under a perfect blue and sunny sky! Great way to finish off the day with diner and a Vino Tinto in a one of the most quaint picturesque towns you can come across! We love it!

If we thought today was big! Early night tonight!

More Photo’s

Camino – Villafranca (Day 24)

Camino – Molina Seca (Day 23)

Date: Wed 29th May
Distance: 27 km
Temperature: Freezing cold
Mood: Feeling the adventure!
Left: Rabanal 8:45am
Arrived: Molina Seca 4:15pm
Santiago de Composela: 216 km
Highlight: Cruz de Ferro

We awoke to the sun shinning, but could also hear the wind whipping over our Hostel. A big day awaited us in many ways than one. Today we would reach the highest altitude on the Camino, over 1500m and is marked by a simple iron cross mounted on a weathered pole called Cruz de Ferro. This has become an important symbolic place where pilgrims place a stone or other token at the foot of the cross representing something of significance for them.

No sooner had we stepped out the door of our hostel, we went scurrying back to the warmth and safety to reassess our attire. Time for more layers and full wet weather gear! Take 2 and we were on our way.

Did we say it was cold yesterday? Well today was way colder due to the wind chill. Alison will be happy to know that the walking poles are back in use and are good at keeping the hands warm as long as you keep up a good pace.

A quick pitstop for a hot chocolate and chocolate croissants at a small village before we soon reached the Cruz de Ferro with a light snow falling. (Yes, it was snowing!) The weather was appropriate for the humbling experience shared by us and other pilgrims. The think blanket of fog kept any scenic distractions at bay whilst we placed our stones and tokens at the cross and said our personal prayers. A special pink ribbon was tied to the cross to symbolise a healing prayer for our family in Brisbane. After a few tears (or was that simply the rain or snow flakes caressing the face?) We started the long descent down the mountain.

We passed through a couple of small villages on the way down, but were unsuccessful in purchasing lunch, so we pushed on all the way to Molina Seca. Another lovely village in its own right with it’s own special history. The accommodation gets the thumbs up, but when we were ready for dinner, they had closed up the restaurant (7:00pm). After looking high and low for somewhere to eat we came upon a little general store advertising meals. With our tummies rumbling due to no lunch that day, we took the chance and ended up scoring microwaved frozen meals! As it turned out, they weren’t too bad and our Spanish host was so humble and lovely, that we wouldn’t have missed it for the world!

Early night with another big day ahead!