Day 23, Oct. 3, 2017, Rabanal del Camino to Molinasecas, 15.85 miles
Dinner last night at our hotel was wonderful. We ate too much and felt guilty as hell afterwards. The lady at the restaurant took it upon herself to provide me with a really memorable vegetarian meal - pasta with vegetables, a wonderful salad with toasted goat cheese, and a chocolate cream mousse for dessert! And Lisa had this amazing cod/mashed potato dish with a pimento dauce. Oh boy! We might be the only people to actually gain weight at the end of this walk??!!!
We left Rabanal around 8 a.m. It was still a little dark but became light very fast. Sunrise was splendid with beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds.
We started to climb steadily towards the summit and a small village - Foncebadon. The hike was refreshing and the views were stunning. We reached the village in a little over an hour and continued on without stopping for a break. We did stop as we climbed even higher to appreciate the views and get some pics.
We continued on to the highest part of the Camino (or so we were told) which was marked by an iron cross (Cruz Ferro). We were supposed to leave a stone which we had got from home (Rabanal in my case and a wine cork from home in Lisa's case) at the cross. This, to some, symbolizes the physical or spiritual baggage that we set out with at the beginning which we are now ready to leave behind on the camino. It was a large wooden pillar with a surprisingly small cross at the top. A couple of peregrinos offered to take our pic. at the top.
We returned the favor and then went to see the solar sun dial that they have there. Pretty accurate by our rough calculations, though they had a complicated system that eluded our reasoning.
We sat there for a few minutes soaking in the peaceful atmosphere and then moved on. We had a little more climbing to do and then found a pop up bar right at the top. There were a lot of electric poles along the way and a small power station at the top. Seemed a lot like PG& E for those of you who hike in Rancho San Antonio back home.
After this pleasant climb we hit the brutal downhill. It was around 8.4 miles of pretty steep, rocky paths. We passed little Manjarin on the way and continued on. After what seemed an endless, soul crushing downhill, we came to El Acebo. It was a lovely little village and we stopped to have a coffee and lunch.
Rested for a bit and met Terry here for a few minutes. After twenty or so minutes of rest, we headed down towards Molinaseca. We had just four miles left, but all downhill and steeply so. Parts of it were not so bad and time went by pretty fast as we raced downhill passing another very small town - Riego de Ambros - before we finally saw the sign announcing that we had arrived at Molinasecas. The entry to the town is one of the prettiest we've seen so far.
You cross a Puente Romano (boy, those Romans were busy!) and then enter the tiny little town.
It's very quaint and pictureseque, full of lovely old homes with geraniums in window boxes. We walked through town to our hotel, de Floriana. It's a nice modern hotel outside town on the highway. After we showered etc. we headed out for dinner to a local restaurant called Casa Morrosco. After a very mediocre dinner, we walked around town by the river and then got some fruit from a grocery store and returned to the hotel to blog and sleep. Adios all and see you tomorrow.
We left Rabanal around 8 a.m. It was still a little dark but became light very fast. Sunrise was splendid with beautiful oranges, yellows, and reds.
We started to climb steadily towards the summit and a small village - Foncebadon. The hike was refreshing and the views were stunning. We reached the village in a little over an hour and continued on without stopping for a break. We did stop as we climbed even higher to appreciate the views and get some pics.
We continued on to the highest part of the Camino (or so we were told) which was marked by an iron cross (Cruz Ferro). We were supposed to leave a stone which we had got from home (Rabanal in my case and a wine cork from home in Lisa's case) at the cross. This, to some, symbolizes the physical or spiritual baggage that we set out with at the beginning which we are now ready to leave behind on the camino. It was a large wooden pillar with a surprisingly small cross at the top. A couple of peregrinos offered to take our pic. at the top.
We returned the favor and then went to see the solar sun dial that they have there. Pretty accurate by our rough calculations, though they had a complicated system that eluded our reasoning.
We sat there for a few minutes soaking in the peaceful atmosphere and then moved on. We had a little more climbing to do and then found a pop up bar right at the top. There were a lot of electric poles along the way and a small power station at the top. Seemed a lot like PG& E for those of you who hike in Rancho San Antonio back home.
After this pleasant climb we hit the brutal downhill. It was around 8.4 miles of pretty steep, rocky paths. We passed little Manjarin on the way and continued on. After what seemed an endless, soul crushing downhill, we came to El Acebo. It was a lovely little village and we stopped to have a coffee and lunch.
Rested for a bit and met Terry here for a few minutes. After twenty or so minutes of rest, we headed down towards Molinaseca. We had just four miles left, but all downhill and steeply so. Parts of it were not so bad and time went by pretty fast as we raced downhill passing another very small town - Riego de Ambros - before we finally saw the sign announcing that we had arrived at Molinasecas. The entry to the town is one of the prettiest we've seen so far.
You cross a Puente Romano (boy, those Romans were busy!) and then enter the tiny little town.
It's very quaint and pictureseque, full of lovely old homes with geraniums in window boxes. We walked through town to our hotel, de Floriana. It's a nice modern hotel outside town on the highway. After we showered etc. we headed out for dinner to a local restaurant called Casa Morrosco. After a very mediocre dinner, we walked around town by the river and then got some fruit from a grocery store and returned to the hotel to blog and sleep. Adios all and see you tomorrow.
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