October 5 Ponferrada – Onward
October 5 Ponferrada – Always Somethin’
As Rosanne Roseanna Danna used to say, It’s always somethin’ but I now have a Spanish SIM card. Went to the Orange store-can’t look up my account because I have French SIM. Want to buy a Spanish SIM. Out of stock until Monday -but! A store in the mall has them. Walk to the mall. Wait one hour while a new phone customer is served. Got my card. Done. Took some photos in Ponferrada as I got lost a few times.
Posted by phone
October 5 Ponferrada & Camponaraya – Today’s Adventure
Editor in chief here back in Kansas City. Mary has had quite the day. Suffice it to say she has finally arrived at her lodging for the night.There may well be further tales to illuminate her readers after she takes a nap and perhaps finds some nourishment.
She also has a new SIM card – one that speaks Spanish – so to speak… She had stopped into the Orange store (the outfit that supports her SIM card), and the vendor couldn’t help her because it was a French SIM card. The advice was to replace the card with a Spanish SIM card.
She went to the mall in Ponferrada but had to wait a considerable length of time to get it hooked up and running.
The photos at the bottom were used to help me understand where she was so I could advise which way to go… not a very fluid process…
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| Ceiling in my room |
Tomorrow’s another day. More later.
October 5 Ponferrada – Villager Angel
Approaching Ponferrada. Citizen angel: A French couple and I were about to cross the street to follow Camino signs.A lady out for her morning walk started shouting to us, No! No! Then she, who spoke only Spanish, communicated to me (only English), and the couple (only French) that we were about to take the route that was 4 km longer than the walk in front of us. Then she proceeded to walk in front of us until we came to the intersection where the longer route met our route.
Here she is leading the way.
October 5 Molinaseca – What the heck?! Sculpture
Mary took this photo, not knowing what it is. And for good reason…
As your intrepid editor, vegan in chief, back home here in Kansas City, I have the advantage of Internet access.
So, if you’ve given up on what this is…
Read this from wikipedia:
Botillo (Spanish: [boˈtiʎo]), Butiellu (Leonese: [buˈtjeʎʊ]) or Botelo (Galician: [boˈtɛlʊ], Portuguese: [buˈtɛlu]; also known as chouriço de ossos in Portuguese) is a dish of meat-stuffed pork intestine. It is a culinary specialty of El Bierzo, a county in the Spanish province of León and also of the region of Trás-os-Montes, in Portugal. The Spanish term botillo, the Portuguese term botelo and Leonese term butiellu derive from the Latin word botellus, meaning intestine.
And then this (summarized below in English)
The Capa foundry ends the first great monument to the botillo, a piece of bronze of 500 kilos that will honor José Arias Franganillo, pioneer of the meat industry in León.
Molinaseca is popular for being a key milestone on the Camino de Santiago, for its tasty sausages, for its wineries, or paradoxically for its water festival. But very soon it will also be recognized for hosting the largest monument to the botillo in the world. The long crowned king of the gastronomy of Berciana will have in this population a bronze icon of almost half a ton of weight and a meter and a half high. And these days it is being finished off in one of the most prestigious foundries in Spain, the Capa house. The work is a design by the Leon artist Álvaro Santos, and although it has been paid for by private promoters, linked precisely to the sector, it will be donated to the City Council to occupy a prominent place on the Jacobean Route. Further, The monument aims to serve as a tribute to one of the precursors of the meat industry not only in Bierzo, but throughout the province, José Arias Franganillo, the grandfather of the generation that is now the front of Frimols, one of the societies more leading in the sector, which also bets on the diversification and development of rural tourism. With this double, sentimental and economic approach, the monumental botillero bronze will be installed next to the new tourist complex that the Arias family will open in the heart of the Camino de Santiago. A hotel with 24 rooms, in which comfort and good taste prevail, and in which about two million euros have been invested.
So, there you have it…
October 5 Molinaseca – Another day
The day began with coffee. I had actual scrambled eggs and toast. You won’t find salt or pepper around here! Don’t know why that is. Some pilgrims carry their own condiments.
I arrived in Ponferrada and connected to WiFi at a cafe. It looks like I’m about 30 minutes from the Orange store (the network company for my SIM card). I’ve taken screenshots of Google map directions. Let’s hope my lack of internal GPS doesn’t get me lost. I’ll be in town for a while.
I arrived in Ponferrada and connected to WiFi at a cafe. It looks like I’m about 30 minutes from the Orange store (the network company for my SIM card). I’ve taken screenshots of Google map directions. Let’s hope my lack of internal GPS doesn’t get me lost. I’ll be in town for a while.
Leaving Molinaseca. This was a ritzy part of town.
October 4 The Story of Acebo
The battle for connectivity continued. John started working on it, but had the same results. Meanwhile, I’ve walked 12 miles and have five more to my destination. It’s steep downhill on a rocky path. I’m concerned that is a recipe for a stumble, so decide to walk the road to Molinaseca those last few miles.I wasn’t certain I was on the right road, so when I saw a big, fancy tour bus turn into a big, fancy resort-looking place, I decided to ask the bus driver. Turned out he only spoke German, but the tour leader helped me. He’s 74 and has walked the Camino Frances seven times. He was concerned for me -Steep, narrow highway, and offered a ride on their bus. I accepted, and as I watched the road on the way down, I knew it was the right decision. Oh. And he had everyone on the bus sing happy birthday to me! (In English!)
See the other scenes, many bordering on odd, but at the very least, interesting!
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| And cows, Gail! |
October 4 Molinaseca – My view from my room
October 4 Molinaseca Here comes soup.
October 4 Molinaseca More Adventures
The following is a summary of communique from Mary over the course of the afternoon (her evening).
I wanted to walk the road instead of the rocky path. Since I can’t connect to Google maps, I asked the driver of the Swiss tourist bus that pulled into the fancy place here. Another man, who is in charge, said that was the road but some areas were extremely steep. If I wanted to wait 30 minutes, they would give me a ride in the bus. I’m always hitching rides!
That’s the man who is giving me a ride. He has walked the entire Camino Frances seven times.
The bus people are impressed that I’ve been walking because they walk a while then get on the bus, then walk some more. But I saw them on the hard, rocky downhill. They are tired.
The bus driver is German and doesn’t speak English.
Everyone on the big bus sang happy birthday to me.
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| Rocky Road – Isn’t that ice cream?! |
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| While I wait… |
