El Acebo to Ponferrada

Castillo de los Templarios..Ponferrada photo courtesy of www.ourcamino.com

Written on June 15, 2009....10.2 miles.

As we were leaving the village in the morning I noticed the sign, ¨Leaving El Acebo¨. Leaving El Acebo? I thought we were in Riego de Ambros!!

We were guided to a wonderful mountain village in spite of ourselves. Later when we shared our story with Nicky, he said, ¨that was a strange thing to happen to people that don´t drink¨.

As we entered Riego de Ambros, 3.7 miles down the road, we were grateful that we were confused! We loved El Acebo. As we left Riego de Ambros the path we were on changed from large slabs of slate-granite to variuous sizes and shapes of petrified wood.

The last two days have been on beautiful mountain paths . Although we had already walked through the Pyrenees in the first two days it was foggy and our view obscured. Yesterday and today have been clear. As the sun rose we were able to see an hidden village in the distance, serene and isolated.

As we entered Molinaseca I stopped....Iglesia de las Angustias had been built up against steep cliffs. We then crossed a medieval bridge across the River Meruelo.

We have noticed more and more pilgrims in recent days. Some pilgrims start in large cities where bus and train connections are possible.

As we left Molinaseca we climbed for a while. At the summit Ponferrado was in clear view...the newer section to the left...the old section to the right. We headed for the main plaza and clock tower, on the left was Castillo de los Templarios...a beautiful castle on the highest point of the city. We found a room and settled in. Around 7:30 p.m. we started looking for a restaurant. Vern had spotted a Mexican restaurant...the first one we have seen in Spain. As we headed for the restaurant we heard, ¨have you had your supper yet? It was Nicky...we thought he had already left. We were so glad to see him. We sat with him and ordered dinner. We all discussed our walk from Astorga and the beauty of the mountain path.

We know that tomorrow he leaves the Camino and heads home to England. We´ve enjoyed every moment with him from the first time he and Luke passed us on the Camino before Fromista. He would pass us then a few hours later we would see him in a village or in a bar on the way to the village.

Although we did not spend much time walking with Nicky we always came to life when we would see him in an albergue or village. He would get to the villages so early that he would have his pick of beds and would always try to get a private corner to himself. We always would listen to his opinion of where to eat or where the tienda, (store), was because he would have plenty of time to explore the village or city. There are many people on the Camino but there are those who we feel a connection with and just by contact with them made the miles go faster and the sun less harsh. Nicky is one of those people.

Buen Life Nicky!

After our dinner with Nicky we walked with him to his albergue and saw Lisa...they both took us to the Chapel on the grounds, near the ruins of a monastery.

We enjoyed our walk through Ponferrada with its variety of art and architecture, ancient and new.