We never knew, all those months ago, whilst in our planning stage, how much of a godsend our decision to only have a short day of walking, followed by 2 nights in the gorgeous little town on Ponferrada, would be. It was absolutely necessary to give ourselves and our feet, a break. Our hotel here is right in the centre of  town on the main plaza, overlooking the town hall (ayuntamiento).

After settling in, we headed out and met Phillipe and Marco, in a local bar. They invited us to join them for tapas and wine – and of course we couldn’t be rude and refuse! Phillipe could only speak Spanish, Marco could speak Spanish, German, French and a tiny bit of English. I have English, French, Spanglish and a wee bit of schoolgirl German and Kate, English only. It made for very interesting conversation, lots of translating going on and lots of laughing. It was a great night and a wonderful introduction to this little town.

Today we have had a very relaxing day, resting up before another trek tomorrow. Ponferrada is home to an 11th century Knight’s Templar castle and beautiful gardens, so we couldn’t have asked for a more ideal spot to have a break.

Off to Villafranca de Bierzo tomorrow, approximately 24 klms apparently. I say ‘apparently’ as we’ve found that distance indications are not an exact science here, rather more of a general guideline. So, based on previous experience so far, we could be walking 20 klms, or 36… No mountains though, thankgoodness!