Ponferrada

Today was really a rest day. We are less than 10kms from Ponferrada where we wanted to walk to today. This is the shortest day on the Camino for us, and really it was just to align us with 'the program' and still have a rest day at the same time.

After a leisurely breakfast and a late checkout we hit the road, uphill to Ponferrada. My bag was at a restaurant opposite the provincial Albergue there. Halfway we got overtaken by Deede and Wendy who'd walked down the mountain this morning, heading for the Albergue - on the outskirts of town on an alternate Camino route. I followed them there as Kathleen and Sineade went looking for accommodation in town for us three. The Alberge wasn't terribly enticing for D and W so they took off, and I went in search of my medicine/postcard bag. Found it, took out bits, readdressed it, called Jacotrans, added €14 to the envelope ... and there came the message from my scouts; Hotel Madrid. I plugged the co-ords into my phone and followed it for 15 minutes to find a fantastic little hotel, seriously well priced again, including breakfast, towels, sheets,....

Sineade was keen to visit MacDonald's as we hadn't run into any yet, and there were signs for it here!

It was a decent walk to get there, but we all got our fix. Everything else in town is closed for siesta, so what else can one do... I had trouble ordering of course, but what do you expect. In the end I got what I wanted; a beer. Maccas is licensed to serve alcohol in Spain (most of the world actually, but not in OZ). People with CF are generally encouraged to eat as much as they can regardless of fat and salt, so MacDonald's suits that diet recommendation just nicely thank you very much.

After our snack I decided to seek out a haircut and ended up in a nice salon where a nice Spanish young lady meticulously gave me my number 4 and trimmed my new beard. It still has grey in it :(

Jim, Wendy and Dee found us in our hotel and we all walked up the hill to the castle, the church, and  the playa which all made up the the old city. The El Camino went right through here but thanks to my detour to the Albergue I had completely missed this best part of town. Very pleased to catch a small glimpse of it on our way to the pizza place we decided on, or else I wouldn't have seen it at all!! 

Tomorrow we hope to be fit for a real walk again.