Cacabelos to Herrerias

It was sunny this morning when we left our hotel in Cacabelos.We had a long day ahead.  We walked from Cacabelos to Herrerias, about 28 km or 17 miles. 

We crossed over the rio Cua leaving Cacabelos.

We then alongside a highway up into the foothills.

After about an hour of walking along the road, the Camino turned off onto a dirt path through vineyards.

We walked over a hill to the village of Valtuille de Arriba, well off the main highway.

After leaving the village, we walked through a woods.

And then through more vineyards.There are cherry trees alongside the Camino here, and the cherries are just ripening.    Outside of Villafranca del Bierzo, we came upon two men, they could have been father and son, picking ripe cherries from a small lot with about a half dozen cherry trees on it.  When we came alongside, they motioned us over and gave us cherries.  They insisted that we stay until our hands were full, and then wished us Buen Camino.  They were delicious, so sweet, and so warm.

Near Villafranca, we passed the Iglesia de Santiago.The church has La Puerta del Perdon that allows sick or injured pilgrims to be forgiven for cutting their pilgrimages short, if they pass through the puerta.  The church was not open.  I told Anne that now we had to keep going, no matter what happens.

Here is the castle in Villafranca from the bluff opposite the village.

And here is view from the bridge over the rio Burbia, on the way out of town.In front of Anne and behind where I am standing taking the picture is a large house with windows overlooking the river.  After I took the picture, I turned to cross the bridge, and started talking–in my best broken Spanish–with an elderly woman leaning out an open window in the house overlooking the river.  She asked where I was from.  I told her Estados Unidos, and she put her fist over her heart and said that she loved the US.  She has a daughter in Toledo, Ohio. She also has relatives in Cuba.  She said something about Fidel.  I shook my head and drew my finger across my throat.  She asked if I wanted some water, and then said something about wine and disappeared back in the house.  I thought the conversation was over and walked across the bridge.  As I walked by her building, she came running out, and gave me a bottle of wine.  Vino tinto, how did she know?  I thanked her, she wished me Buen Camino, and off we went. Her kindness and that of the two men who gave us cherries has fully restored whatever it was that seemed lost a couple of days ago.

For the rest of the day we hiked up a long valley with a roadway on one side.

And a river on the other.

We passed through several villages.  This is Vega de Valcarce, not far from the village where we are staying tonight.It was a long day, and we were glad when we reached our hotel.