How far can Sally make it today? We iced here sore ankle and foot all last evening, 20 on, 20 off. Judging from how it felt last night I foresee taxi rides in the next couple of hours.
We were out the door a few minutes later than we planned; 6:47am. We figured the going would be slow, but we set a pace just under 2.5 mph and maintained it well. The route follows the main road, a two lane affair, out of town. At about two miles the route splits, the main route leaves the highway and contours around the surrounding hillsides, covered in vineyards. The alternate stays along side the highway before cutting over and rejoining the main route after about 2.5 miles. To save steps and time, and because the highway was not very busy we picked the shorter highway route. It saved us 0.7 miles and about 100 feet of elevation change. I missed a turn back to the route and walked about 100 yards past it, but we found a vineyard road that cut through and put us back on route. Becky caught up with us about this time.
We reached VillaFranca and walked together into this picturesque town nestled in the sharp walled valleys straddling a rushing stream. We found a coffee shop open and Sally had a Coke while Becky had a coffee. We thought we might see Tom and Nicki as they were taking a zero here today. Sure enough, a few minutes later they walked up in search of coffee. Before long John and his wife, Susan and Jo came along. We chatted for a few minutes, but now an hour had passed and we needed to get moving before the cool morning turned into a hot afternoon as the sun was out and the skies were clear.
We stopped at a pharmacy an got Sally an ankle compression bandage to help support her injured foot then crossed the bridge out of town. The route splits here with the main route climbing a ridge for a thousand feet, running the ridge and then dropping back down. The alternate is the original route up the river valley following the old highway. We chose the old route for its shortness and lack of elevation changes. The old highway has been supplanted by a new elevated freeway that keeps the noise and traffic above, sometimes as much as several hundred feet.
Going out of town I relied on memory too much and my map too little and took a wrong turn where I supposed the split to be. A kind elderly Spanish gentleman kept trying to tell me I was going the wrong way, but I thought he was urging me to take the upper route. I showed him on my phone. He insisted, in Spanish, and with hand gestures. We walked started to continue away when Becky, 50 yards back Agee’s with the elderly man and told us we were going the wrong way. I zoomed in on the map and saw we were indeed headed across the river on a bridge when we shouldn’t have been. Thank you Becky! Saved us retracing our steps
when we discovered my mistake.
The next few hours were spent walking along side the nearby abandoned road with the river rushing next to us until we reached Trabadelo about 11:30am. We stopped at the first bar in town and split a pilgrim meal of kale soup and chicken with French fries. The soup was excellent.
A hundred yards up the road was a tiny grocery in what was probably a woman’s living room where we got a couple Cup
of Soups to employ as dinner then checked into our albergue. The kind woman who signed us in reported she had hurt herself earlier that morning and needed a few days to recover and wouldn’t be cooking dinner for us that night, which was fine with us. Our Kim was upstairs next to a sumptuous sitting room and the balcony overlooking the street. It got to about 77° today before the clouds started building about 2:00pm, threatening rain and thunder, which we heard in the distance.
As soon as we were situated I ran out to the gas station (Repsol) and bought pops and ice for Sally’s ankle and Becky’s shins. They spent the afternoon relaxing and trading the ice back and forth every 20 minutes.
I was writing in my blog in the sitting room when Sally, always thinking ten steps ahead, proposed we try to stay in O Cebreiro tomorrow night instead of La Faba as planned. This would lengthen tomorrow by 3.5 miles to about 12 and shorten the next day to 13.5 instead of a grueling 17. booking.com said everything was full, but I called one place anyhow. They said they were indeed full, but suggested I call Carolo. I did. They had two private rooms available, a single for €46 and a double for €56. I said we would take them. No one ever takes a credit card number, they just trust you will arrive. However, they do say to call if you will be later than 2:00pm on the day of arrival, otherwise they will give the room to someone else as there are many people looking for beds. We felt lucky to have found beds in O Cebreiro the night before arriving as usually everything is booked solid. Someone must have cancelled.
We ate our cup of noodles downstairs in the dining room about 7:00pm and then retired to our room for the night.
Sally reported her foot/ankle was sore, but doing okay. Tomorrow we climb 3000’ up to O Cebreiro on the ridge. It is supposed to rain all day. We will see what tomorrow brings.
Someone in the vineyards put out a chair and a signpost. Cute and practical.
Walking into Villafranca
One lane bridge out of VillaFranca
Sally and a pilgrim statue. One of the thousands we have passed since starting in Saint Jean Pied du Pont in France.
The river and the lower half of the town of Villafranca
The Way under the overhead freeway as we walk up the river valley for miles.
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