Doug and Dave walk the Camino de Santiago
Day 4, Sunday, April 15, 2007
Ponferrada -to- Villafranca del Bierzo

Distance travelled today: 24.5 km, 15.2 mi Total distance walked: 78.6 km, 48.8 mi Distance to Santiago: 192.4 km, 119.6 mi

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Leaving Ponferrada early in the morning. Stopping for coffee is a must! Storks nesting in two different church steeples on the way to Villafranca A beautiful house surrounded by high trees and vineyards. Irises and other flowers dotted the Camino; very pleasing to the eye. Dave feeling the heat. Today a temperature high record was set, 86 deg. F. (30 deg. C.). Shade was at a premium in the open vineyards. Dave struggled this day due to high temperatures, blisters, and no lunch. We tried to get lunch in Cacabelos, but spent a half hour for just a coke; it was Sunday and the baker had not delivered bread on time! The last stretch of road into the albergue at Villafranca, shown in the left photo, was a very welcome sight to see! On the right is the office & dining area at Albergue "Ave Fenix", renovated since a fire (hence the name Fenix). The Fenix is run by another Camino character, Jesús. Jesús is dedicated to the welfare of pilgrims and adds his own special touches such as mystical healing and huge meals! We had a great dinner there with large portions of soup, salad, spaghetti and fried eggs! Our friends from Worth Abbey were also there and an enjoyable evening was had by all. Views of the albergue Fenix. No one was allowed to enter the sleeping areas upstairs unless they had removed their boots and placed them on the boot rack. Probably a good idea, since pilgrim boots carry their own "personalities"! Photo of Nicole, a German pilgrim. She had a problem; she needed to replace the boots she was wearing due to a bad fit. Curiously, Doug discovered at the same time that his 10 year old boots were disintegrating and also needed immediate replacement. We decided that Doug would take the bus back to Ponferrada on Monday to locate a new pair. More on that adventure tomorrow!

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