Day Twenty Four: Pomferrada to Vilafranca

Today started a little earlier than normal thanks to the albergue's "get out" time of 7:30 am; so we rolled out of bed, packed our bags, put on our boots, and headed across the street ... for breakfast. This morning's accomplishment: we left the Albergue before Gosia and Jarek! (Only by five seconds, but first is first.) After breakfast we started to make our way out of the city, but soon couldn't find any yellow arrows or signs that told us which way to go, so we were at the mercy of the kind woman who pointed and waved and motioned us forward and towards the way. Once we found the signs, we were set and had no further problems -- other than the weather. Is it raining? Is it sunny? Is it cold? Hot? Windy? The answer is yes. Yes to all of the above, which made deciding what to wear and what to keep wearing tricky. (Tomorrow it is supposed to rain again, so I will try the whole praying for sunshine thing a little harder.) When the first raindrops began to fall Vera and I decided to stop in at a cafe for coffee, but soon it was obvious we couldn't do that all day, so we toughened up and adorned our rain gear and soldiered on. 

We stopped a few times today, once being at a lovely church. They were cleaning today which meant all the pews had been moved out (apparently the pews are not attached to the floor as they are in churches at home) but I was still able to go inside and enjoy the statues and devotional areas and spend some time in prayer. At lunch time we stopped in a cafe and had (what else) croquetas and patatas Ali oli! I promise eventually we will expand our culinary adventures, but the other items on the menu were scary (like octopus) so it really was better this way. 

After lunch we took to the mountains, hiking our way to our resting place for the night. I wonder if the people who live in these mountain villages wake up every morning and stand in awe of the beauty the way I do every time I encounter a new view. I can't wait to make my family watch the slide show of the five thousand mountain landscape pictures that I have surely taken. haha I will probably eat my words tomorrow because we have a really steep climb ahead of us, but I am so impressed at how well the climbs are going -- three weeks ago we would have had to have taken breaks while walking up such steep hills, but now we are able to power through it. We kept searching for rainbows today since the sun kept peering out through the rain, but we were unable to see any. However, the beautiful site of all the grape vines have returned -- the hills are covered in organized rows of grape vines and olive trees. (They look just like my notecards: organized, orderly, and color coordinated in greens and browns.)

Around four o'clock we arrived at our destination: Vilafranca. The town isn't too big, but that's okay -- I have decided I like the quaint villages better: less tourists and more pilgrims. We checked into the municipal Albergue and then went to have a rest. For some reason I wasn't tired, so I took a shower (there was no one else in the bathroom so I had the whole space to myself!) and then went down to the dining room where Jarek and Gosia were cooking dinner (croquetas of course!!). Vera was sleeping, but when she woke we all headed down the road where Vera and I ate dinner. The owner of the cafe had a young son who made appearances throughout our dinner -- he was so precious!! And now we are all back at our Albergue enjoying sangria before it is time for bed. 

I have been thinking a lot about the pilgrims that we haven't seen in a while -- the ladies from the UK, the man from Sweden, the German couple, Olivier from France ... I hope they are all doing well and that we see them when we reach Santiago. At the same time, I am having so much fun with the pilgrims I am with. I am so blessed to have found such wonderful people to accompany and be accompanied by on my Camino. 

Here are some pictures from today (they are limited because my camera spent much of the day in a waterproof bag so as not to be ruined ...): 

Oh hey -- a castle! This is still in Ponderrada as we were trying to find our way out of the city. 

Today's selfie is with the castle! 

We have decided that storks must be very holy birds -- every church had at least one stork nest lurched atop its bell tower. 

Yet another beautiful depiction of Mary and Christ. 

Cloudy mountain view -- but still beautiful. 

Alycia: I have finally crosses to the dark side ... I like mayonnaise on my fries. (Or as they call it: patatas Ali oli.) 

The sun came out for a bit -- just long enough to trick us into taking off our rain jackets. 

Lentil soup for dinner -- perfect in this rainy weather. 

Beautiful baby!! He is having tortilla for dinner and was really excited to dig in! 

Na Zdrowie (Polish for cheers). Sangria -- they have really tasty sangria in Spain! 

And my bed for the night. It is a little hard to tell in this picture, but the ceilings are sloped because we are in the attic of the Albergue -- the man who checked us warned me not to hit my head. 

Aaaaaaaand it is time for bed. Tomorrow will be a day of steep climbs -- pray for for good weather and strong legs!! 

Buen Camino. 

Jena