Molinaseca to Cacabelos

Today for the first time, we started out walking in the rain.  Anne says that I look good in my rain outfit and that people are laughing with me.It rained steadily for the first hour of our walk from Molinaseca to Campo, which was entirely on sidewalks.  We only saw two other pilgrims walking in the rain. 

The rain let up when we got to Campo.

We walked on sidewalks from Campo to Ponferrada, passing through an industrial area.

When we got to Ponferrada, the rain started up again while we were in front of the town’s castle:

We toured the castle in a light rain.  This is the view of Ponferrada looking southeast from the castle wall.After leaving the castle, we walked up a hill to the church on Ponferrada’s main plaza.  We overtook an old nun also walking up the hill, who greeted us.  She asked in Spanish where we were from, how long we had been married, and then stuck out her hand with a few coins in it.  I found some coins in my pocket and dropped them in her hand.  She pointed to a building where we could get our pilgrim credentials stamped, and continued up the hill.  I thought Anne would be impressed my generosity.  I was wrong.  She told me, “I’ve never seen that before.  You just got shaken down by a nun.”  Anne has insisted on carrying the money for the trip and the credit card.  I hadn’t really thought much about it until now.

It started to rain harder before we left Ponferrada.  We walked for several hours on the streets outside Ponferrada before the rain stopped.Most of the walking today was on sidewalks but some was directly on the street.  Most drivers will either slow or pull over to the other side of the road when they pass us.  Some do not.  The worst drivers were the shepherds in the Pyrenees who Anne and I agreed tried to drive as close to us as possible when they passed.

About an hour from Cacabelos, which is our destination, the rain stopped, and we turned onto a dirt track that went through vineyards.

Just before reaching the village, the rain clouds closed in again.It is raining hard now, and rain is forecast for the next several days.  We spent today crossing from one side of a long valley to the other side.  From here, the Camino goes up out of the valley and into the mountains.  We need to keep an eye on the weather.  Today was unusual because the rain started in the morning.  The typical pattern has been for good weather early and for the rain to start in the early afternoon.  That has generally allowed us to reach our destination without getting too wet, provided we get an early start.  If it rains all day though, all bets are off.