Chuck's News: June 4, 2023 - Day 35 - to Molinaseca - 5.6 miles - +87’

It’s a zero day. Well, almost. It’s a nero. 5.6 miles downhill to Molinaseca. Last time we were here we walked through this town and we’re stuck by its charm and position on a river at the base of the mountain. We wanted to stay here, but didn’t want to descend all 3000’ in one day. Solution. Stay at El Acebo halfway down the mountain. Then walk the other half of the descent and stay in this quaint town. We planned to be in by noon and have time to enjoy the town.

This was a sleep in day. With only 5 downhill miles to go, and breakfast served until 10:30am, we hit the snooze button on our alarms and didn’t rise until 8:00am. Dressed and packed and downstairs for breakfast at 9:00am.

Here we ran I into Henry and Emma from Florida. We had breakfast with them. They are very fun and are vieing for the slowest people on the Camino, beating out Sally for that title.

With breakfast done we headed down the hill, walking the road rather than the trail because it is less steep and has a good surface when compared to loose rocks. Becky wanted to walk the trail so she left before we did.

At one point we walked the trail for 3/4 of a mile. It had steep areas with poor footing which encouraged us to use the road. On this stretch we met a 21 year old from San Diego named Andrew. He was delightfully mature and conversant, explaining he was here to contemplate who he wanted to be as an adult. He was a math major in North Carolina.

It was road the rest of the way down. We had to be careful to listen for and dodge cars on this very narrow winding road.

Soon we were in Molinaseca, crossing the stove bridge with the beautifully sculpted gardens bordering the river.

We stopped at the restaurant for cokes and a bite to eat. Then the sky opened up and it rained for more than an hour. We huddled under one of the restaurant umbrellas to stay dry.

With the rain finished and 2 o’clock at hand it was time to seek out our lodgings for the night, the Casa de Rolej (the house of clocks).

We walked in and were immediately shocked by the main floor. It was one huge room with a big chimney right in the center. It wasn’t until hours later that we speculated that this space had originally been a forge or blacksmith’s workshop. It was amazing as a lobby for a hostel. The woman in charge did not speak a word of anything except Spanish, yet kept up a running dialog even though she knew we couldn’t understand her. She took us up to show us our room, another spacious and amazing space.

We cooked spaghetti, sauce and carrots for dinner. We wondered where Tom and Nicki were and texted them. They were in this same town and promised to come by, bringing wine, chips and chocolate. We had stipulated 8:30pm as our pumpkin hour and they texted back that they were iin agreement. About 9:15pm they were still there, none of us wanting to break up the congenial conversation. Hope, a 36 year old PhD candidate in music at Princeton joined us. She was a welcome addition. A group photo and we were soon upstairs and asleep. Another great day!