One for Ian and Brian: bet you are sad to have missed the next leg

 Molinaseca to Villafranca del Bierzo, 31km 

With support crew still in tow, I set off this morning for Ponferrada, a lovely Spanish town apparently famous for its Templar Castle. 

The walk down from Molinaseca was, of course, a delightful combination of picturesque (read: completely dilapidated) little hamlets and cute little farm tracks. Seemed like no time at all that we arrived in Ponferrada and had the breakfast of champions (tortilla, fresh OJ and green tea) in a little cafe by the castle before it was time to go our separate ways. 

Have to say, the few hours after we separated were very tough. First and foremost, had just said goodbye to my boyfriend for another couple of weeks – bad form at the best of times. Secondly, I was suddenly struggling with the weight of my pack.  Ian had bought a few additional necessities for me – trainers for bad feet days, a block of salted caramel chocolate (much appreciated, despite him eating most of it yesterday) and a few additions to the first aid kit (including Lorna’s very thoughtful addition of some indulgent foot cream … oh thank you genius lady!) – but somehow my head had turned this into a couple of concrete slabs that were weighing on my mind and my shoulders from the moment I left Ponferrada. 

Thirdly I was slightly confused/miffed/jealous of the fact that Ian and Brian were jumping in their hire car and hitting Santiago in a matter of hours. I still have around ten days to go at best guess, so very hard to get my head around the fact that someone could drive there in an afternoon.  Definitely started up a bit of mental angst and the big question of what the hell was I playing at with this Camino malarkey? 

More to the point though, the road out of Ponferrada was awful. A hot, dusty tour of a series of loud and dusty outlying suburbs and satellite villages.  Now don’t get me wrong, I am absolutely delighted that Ian and Brian got to experience the best the Camino had to offer, but there was part of me during this awful few hours that kind-of wished they had had a little taste of the crap bits, just so they knew it wasn’t all champagne and skittles. 

So yes, safe to say I had my grump on for a good few hours.  But, of course, whatever you need, the Camino provided and after about my fifth soulless concrete jungle, I randomly happened upon a wine co-op that was offering a pilgrim special of wine tasting with snacks for only €1.50.  Now I am not usually one for drinking during the day (particularly with a good 10km or more to go) but figured if the Shorts could do it, why not?  And so I broke one of my cardinal rules and popped in for a quiet bevvie …and when I opened the door and was blasted with a delightful combination of air conditioning and Abster’s favourite Katy Perry action, I figured it was obviously a sign it was the way forward (hear me roar!)

The afternoon scenery was much more my stlye

 And of course, when I emerged half an hour later, the scenery immediately transformed into a series of rolling hills patch worked with vineyards and dotted with quaint stone buildings. Suddenly all was well with the world again – so much so that with mojo restored, I bypassed several early out options and made it all the way to the delightful hillside town of Villafranca. 

It was late by the time I reached the city centre and I had just about hit breaking point (water supply empty and feet on the rampage) so decided I needed a little moment to regroup on a bench to work out where I was going to stay for the night. Of course, just at that point I hear a slightly camp ‘Nooooo!’ from the other side of the square and up pops a very relaxed looking Canadian John with two Irish gents in tow. Of course I then felt obliged to join them for a rather large beer. Which of course turned into several rather large beers. Which of course turned into dinner. Which ultimately resulted in me having to do a Cinderella-esque dash (exchange glass slippers for smelly boots knotted around my neck to try and get into one of the albergues before all doors were locked at 10pm. Pleased to report I managed it  by a slightly annoyed hospitero’s whisker. 

That, my good friends, is me officially throwing caution to the wind. Feeling slightly disorganised as a result, but all part of the fun I guess!