{"id":83995,"date":"2014-04-23T07:49:55","date_gmt":"2014-04-23T14:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-year-ago-is-spain\/"},"modified":"2014-05-03T13:42:38","modified_gmt":"2014-05-03T20:42:38","slug":"one-year-ago-is-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-year-ago-is-spain\/","title":{"rendered":"One Year Ago: \u201cIs Spain\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

(from my journal)<\/p>\n

Cacabelos
\n2<\/span>3 April 2013<\/p>\n

On paper, this should have been our easiest day. Unfortunately, it was 27\u00b0 C. <\/p>\n

We arrived in Ponferrada in good shape and only slightly behind schedule. But there was the Castle. We waited almost an hour for it to open at 11AM(ish), and we then spent over an hour exploring the structure and at the library display of medieval books and facsimiles.<\/p>\n

The castle in Ponferrada – Castillo de los Templarios – is a Templar castle, eventually taken over by local gentry. It was originally built in the 12th Century, and expanded and modified over the next three centuries. Repairs and modernizations were carried out in the 19th and 20th Centuries. <\/p>\n

It was a great deal of fun to explore, but it and a visit to the Basilica put us hopelessly behind schedule.<\/p>\n

So we were walking in the heat of the day, and the heat was horrible. Francine proved quite susceptible to the temperature, and our pace, while never speedy, now became plagued with the need for constant breaks.<\/p>\n

At one point in the village of Fuentas Nuevas, I became concerned that she might actually be suffering from heat prostration. We spent over 30 minutes in a bar while her temperature normalized. After that, it was an excruciatingly slow journey to Cacabelos, where we arrived at the albergue at nearly 7PM.<\/p>\n

We showered and (for \u20ac6) gave them our laundry. At 8PM, there was a van pool to a restaurant for dinner. The food was terrible, easily the worst I’ve had in Spain. The first course was a tepid soup that was simply inedible, and the second was overcooked beef that was mostly fat and gristle. Apparently the hospitalero gets some sort of kickback for the arrangement.<\/p>\n

About 10PM, I went in search of our laundry. It turns out the dryer is broken, and nobody bothered to tell us. Our clothes are damp, and all possibility of leaving early tomorrow to beat the heat is gone. The hospitalero merely shrugged, “is Spain”.<\/p>\n

A terrible evening all around.<\/p>\n

I despair now of meeting our schedule – we are only 193km from Santiago, and I now have no idea how to get there in time. We should have been at La Faba tomorrow night (the 24th), so as to crest O\u2019Cebreiro on the 25th in the morning to reach Tricastela on that night. This is now impossible.<\/p>\n

The best case now is to reach Ruitel\u00e1n, and that’s only a vague hope. Trabadelo is more likely. Perhaps a bus from Villafranca to Trabadelo or Vega de Valcarce will put us back on schedule? I may just put Francine on a bus in O\u2019Cebreiro to Triacastela to avoid the downhill trek. I just don’t know at this point what to do.<\/p>\n

\n

Oh, and tonight at dinner we met the Ugly American. His name is Rick (maybe), and he’s from LA.<\/p>\n

\n

The night manager put our clothes on a drying rack under a portable heater! Huzzah for Spanish ingenuity in adversity!<\/p>\n

\n

Santiago is with us tonight, as are Radek, Lana, and the Saskatchewan Kid.<\/p>\n

\n

Radek saves the day! We talk about geography and schedules over beer. He has convinced me that we can be in Santiago on the 2nd, just a day behind schedule.<\/p>\n

\n

Photos will have to wait. For some reason, I’m missing a week’s worth of photos on Flickr. Probably, “is Spain”.<\/p>\n

\n

EDITED TO ADD: SOME PHOTOS!
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ALL the photos for day 22<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(from my journal) Cacabelos 23 April 2013 On paper, this should have been our easiest day. Unfortunately, it was 27\u00b0 C. We arrived in Ponferrada in good shape and only slightly behind schedule. But there was the Castle. We waited almost an hour for it to open at 11AM(ish), and we then spent over an hour exploring the structure and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camino"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/13996545025_2cf7748500_b.jpg?fit=765%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-lQL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61979,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-hot-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":83995,"position":0},"title":"A Hot Time","author":"Thom","date":"28 April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"23 April On paper, this should have been our easiest day. Unfortunately, a heatwave hit. We arrived in Ponferrada in good shape and good time, but there we found the old Templar castle. We waited until it opened at 11, and we spent over an hour exploring both the castle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83935,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-year-ago-some-kind-of-desolation\/","url_meta":{"origin":83995,"position":1},"title":"One Year Ago: Some Kind of Desolation","author":"Thom","date":"14 April 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"(from my journal) Itero de la Vega Third Sunday of Easter Hot. Dry. Sunny. The Meseta \u2013 at least what we\u2019ve seen of it so far \u2013 has not, however, lived up to its reputation for \u201cflat\u201d. We had two trying climbs today, one before lunch, one after. We left\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Just after dawn at Arroyo San Bol","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8859015641_6e68e8c149_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8859015641_6e68e8c149_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8859015641_6e68e8c149_b.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8859015641_6e68e8c149_b.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59555,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/initial-thoughts-on-the-meseta\/","url_meta":{"origin":83995,"position":2},"title":"Initial Thoughts on the Meseta","author":"Thom","date":"16 April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Third Sunday of Easter 14 April 2013 Hot. Dry. Sunny. This is the Meseta, a large arid plateau that makes up the middle third of the Camino through Spain. The Meseta is said to be the second trial of the Camino. In the first third, you are tried physically. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83915,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-year-ago-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":83995,"position":3},"title":"One Year Ago: Snow!","author":"Thom","date":"06 April 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"(from my journal) Estella Easter Saturday \/ 5:20AM I woke up early and surprisingly refreshed. I wrote some post cards and will attempt to pack my bag before everyone else it up for breakfast. It\u2019s snowing. Breakfast in Estella. Eamon and Patrick in the corner. Los Arcos 4:30PM Arrived in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Breakfast in Estella. Eamon and Patrick in the corner.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728466787_7715b79efc_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728466787_7715b79efc_b.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728466787_7715b79efc_b.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/camino\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/8728466787_7715b79efc_b.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57264,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/snowing-from-estella\/","url_meta":{"origin":83995,"position":4},"title":"Snowing from Estella","author":"Thom","date":"06 April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u00b4m currently in the town of Los Arcos. Four of us set off from Estella this morning in high spirits and falling snow. While it wasn\u00b4t heavy or constant, it was thick, gloopy stuff. Flakes the size of walnuts! It didn\u00b4t stick to the roads, but did most everywhere else.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Camino"","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87125,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/tourists-in-france\/","url_meta":{"origin":83995,"position":5},"title":"Tourists in France","author":"Thom","date":"29 March 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"First breakfast and Lauds at Coraz\u00f3n Puro. Istv\u00e1n and Barbara drove us to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. We are in France! We stopped in at the pilgrims office for our orientation and map. 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