Day 35: Villafranca Del Bierzo to Las Herrerías | Camino Frances | May-July 2022

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June 27, 2022
"If only" is a roadblock on the highway of life. "How can I?" is a roadblock breaker.
Camino De Santiago Day 35: Villafranca Del Bierzo to Las Herrerias, Spain
19 km (11.8 miles)
Today involved a lot of road walking. Walking along highways. Also under very tall bridges. And I didn't really mind it. It was something different.
We started the morning off with very little sleep. After falling asleep the previous evening at 8 pm, a pilgrim in the room adjacent decided 10:30 pm was a good time to start playing retro music for everyone to enjoy. So much so that he continued sharing his tunes untill we'll past midnight.
Finally at 12:30 am Andre and I both went to the shared albergue bathroom and looked into his space to give him a hint to turn it off. He did so after his buddies coaxed him too, and we finally were able to drift off to sleep.
And then came the "ping" sound of his phone alerting him of an incoming message. Every 5 minutes or so. For the rest of the night. Until dawn. He really needed a refresher course on Albergue Manners 101.
I met a lovely young boy walking the Camino with his parents as I was tieing my hiking shoes heading out into the brisk morning air. He saw me flipping through my photos earlier and wanted me to pull up the castle photos from Ponferrada. He leaned into my lap as I found the photos, and asked me questions about the knights and castle walls. A trusting young heart as I tried to answer his questions with as much excitement as possible despite my little knowledge and sleepy thoughts.
Behind our albergue was an artist's studio with plaster sculptures. Another talented soul.
We enjoyed our 1st breakfast of gazpacho soup, chips, and a peach on a sidewalk bench just leaving town. We also shared an Aquarius Limon soda, similar to Gatorade it is excellent for electrolytes.
And then came the all day highway walking. We passed a few villages, all uniquely special, and continued our road walk across the region.
Second breakfast was enjoyed in Trabadelo. We asked for tomatoes to go with our bocadillos, and we received a large plate full. We've come to realize that we need to start sharing a meal. Spain serves very large portions of food for a very small price. And we can never finish it. One plate is enough for 3.
We found a very small, open church in Ruitelan where we sat in silence just taking it in. I love the small churches the most I think. They just have the best energy.
When we arrived in Las Herrerias, we were greeted by a friendly host and a beautiful private room. After the previous evening's albergue fiasco, the beautiful private room felt like Christmas.
We cleaned ourselves up (we generally arrive very sweaty), and then headed out to explore the village. We picked up some items from the village Tienda and returned back in time for dinner. Again, very large portions. We forgot about the new rule we had just set to share a meal.
At bedtime, we explored the upstairs deck and the greenery surrounding us. The views here are spectacular!!
And when the lights went out, there was thankfully no retro jazzercise sounding music playing nextdoor.
My foot pain is still very present and becoming increasingly annoying. The weather has been fantastic, I just need my feet to get the memo. But, I cannot and I will not allow it to be a roadblock on my journey.
Solo tengo ganas de caminar!!

[@patrickmooney4135]

Nice video. Thanks!

[@reed0199]

Definitely getting into the Galician Mountains. More to come !!!

[@markc8401]

That was quite the all-day uphill eh? Nice towns along the way here at the base of the mountain

[@wedofly1998]

Yes, and we LOVED O Cebreiro, next video. 🚶‍♀️🚶

[@resurgem]

By now I would be thinking, "let's just get this done!". A very pretty hotel with lovely views. Did Andre live in Spain for long, and does he speak spanish?
I cannot stand the sound of mobile phone notifications, it is so inconsiderate to other people, let alone the irritation I feel by their intrusion. I have them all switched off.

[@wedofly1998]

Andre was in Spain from birth to age 6, unfortunately he did not retain his Spanish. But he remembers it fondly and was so happy to be back!!