Day 28 and Day 29

Via de la Plata

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Day 28

 

Santa Croya de Tera to Rionegro del Puente. 28km

 

This was another wonderful day's walking through some of the best scenery we've encountered so far. Gone were the hills of yesterday but although relatively flat the landscape changed in character from one section to the next. From Santa Croya we went through large plantations of poplar trees. We had first noticed these trees when Cicerone pointed them out as we entered Tabara and yesterday there were small areas in the valleys where they grew tall and slender in neat long rows. Today at the start it was continuous fields of these lovely trees at different stages of development. There was no information on the use of the wood and there was no sign of tree felling or of sawmills.

 

The next stage was the Rio Tera, and on crossing a bridge the waters below we're as calm as a mill pond resulting in mirror like reflections of the tall poplars along the banks. Moira spotted a wild boar with his family among the trees and later going along a road they ran across to a field on the other side. The two large adults were followed by a string of little piglets. The route followed the river through to trees to the villages of Calzadilla de Tera and Olleros de Tera then going to the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de Agavanzal. This was a church on its own in the fields above the river. It had a small building alongside with porch and benches where we had our first stop for coffee. The wind had picked up and was cold, this porch offered shelter from it, and when the sun rose above the bell tower and shone directly on us, it was like central heating being turned on. The church itself was locked but the inside could be seen through a small grating on the door, it was quite beautiful and disappointing that we couldn't get inside. There was a slot in the door for 'donativo' and we contributed especially for the use of the porch.

 

After our break the track did do some climbing, but it was gradual and took us up to the Embalse de Nuestra Señora de Agavanzal, a large reservoir created by damming the waters of the Rio Tera. We crossed the dam wall where the waters fed a power station and along a tarred footpath all the way up the other side of this stunning manmade lake. When reaching the village of Villar de Farfon we found another sheltered porch on the side of the church of San Pedro where the cooker came out again for a brew up.

 

From this last village before our final stop for the night at Rionegro was 6km of trekking on a narrow path through an area very similar to the South African bushveldt. With the small trees and bushes scattered through savannah type grasslands one expected to see at any minute giraffes or zebra but then a last of the cold wind was a vivid reminder that this was not Africa.

 

When we started this morning it was calm and windless rewarding us with the fine reflections in the river. But as the sun rose the wind came again and it was cold. Later it turned out better as the sun got warmer but not enough to remove our fleeces. The worrying thing is that looking at the mountains in the distance there is a large covering of snow on top. In about three days time we have to climb to 1300m, it will be cold but hopefully the snow level is above that.

 

The albergue in Rionegro was easy to find, it was facing us as we entered the village. Suzanna and Almont who past us when we were having a coffee break were settled in but there was plenty of room and we got bottom bunks. The only others there were a German couple who we met for the first time last night. We hadn't seen them on the trail today and don't know how they arrived before us, maybe there's a bus service. The hostel was very modern and one of the more luxurious. It had a very good kitchen but unfortunately there wasn't a shop in the village where we could buy food to cook. It was going to be the bar again tonight.

At 8:00 pm we walked the short distance to the Central Bar which had a flier in the albergue advertising meals but there was only one customer there drinking and no sign of a restaurant. We went to the Bar Palacios opposite the ajuntamiento (town hall) instead. Our two women fellow pilgrims and the other couple from the albergue were there and had already finished their dinner. We started with soup, which came in a huge tureen, we had about three platefuls each with plenty of bread. Not sure what we ordered next turned out to be the local ham, two fried eggs and chips. Along with a sweet and a bottle of wine it wasn't bad for E10 each. While eating the TV was on with football, the Champions League semi final, but it was all the armchair pundits for half an hour knowledgeably predicting the outcome,as on BBC, but in Spanish. I wasn't sure which semi final match it was, and only when the teams came out did I discover it was the Barcelona Chelsea second leg game. I don't know the result as we went back to get to bed after about 20 minutes play, but it didn't look very promising for Chelsea.

Via de la Plata

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Day 29

 

Rionegro del Puente to Palacios de Sanabria. 28 km

 

I was wakened about 5:00am by what I thought was snoring at first, then realised that it was the wind blowing. When we got up later and looked out, if the weather was like that in Scotland we would decide it was a day for staying in with the central heating turned up. The sky was slate grey, the wind was gusting strongly, there was rain and it looked extremely cold. We put on nearly all our clothes, I had three pairs of shorts, a t-shirt and two golf tops, while on my hands I wore two pairs of socks with a plastic bag between for insulation. My rucksack was very light now, there were no clothes in it, I had them all on and there was no food left either. Moira was similarly kitted out. I think we would have stayed on at Rionegro if we hadn't had accommodation booked at Palacios. The woman,at Casa Anita in Santa Croya the other day, had recommended a pension there and made the booking for us. The only worry was that we didn't have an address, just to ask for Teresa when we got there, everyone knew her. We were a bit dubious but Suzanna said they were also going there and as Palacios was a very small place so there shouldn't be a problem. Famous last words!

 

We set out a bit later than normal, 7:45am, as we wanted to reach the first town of Mombuey, 8.5km away, some time after 9:00am when the shops should be open and we could restock with food. The conditions were even worse than we imagined, the cold wind was gale force when it gusted, and although the rain was slight at first it soon came lashing down. I don't know what the scenery was like on this initial stretch as I had my head down watching my step on a very rutted and uneven narrow path. When we reached the outskirts of Mombuey there was an hotel,and it was straight into the bar for some shelter and a 'cafe con leche, grande'. A few minutes later Suzanna and Almont came in, had a look around then went out again. I realised that they wanted to use the loo first, and there was a sign on the door 'out of order' or similiar. We saw a few more people, motorists from the N630 which passed outside, come in see there was no loo and leave.Doesn't the management of this establishment see that there are losing custom with this 'mañana' attitude, motorists on a long journey looking for a toilet will stop here and at the same time buy at least a coffee out of courtesy. About fifteen minutes later we did encounter a different approach. Dripping and soaked, our bare legs cold we came across a clothing shop with jeans in the window and went in to have a look. The woman grabbed us and made sure we weren't leaving until we bought something, but in a nice way. She eventually recommended 'pantelones', a type of heavy duty tights and moved somebody else from the changing room to allow us to try them on. They were perfect and will keep our legs lovely and warm, we even got a discount, E15 for the two pairs, and she had made a sale. Between these two events we found a supermarket and replenished our supplies. The girl at the checkout looked on in amusement as the coffee and jam were transferred from the jars into a plastic bag and a Tupperware container before packing away. We don't carry any excess weight if we can help it.

 

Now feeling a lot I warmer in our tights we struggled on through the relentless rain and driving wind. From what I could see of the countryside it was rough pasture land and we were never far way from either the motorway or the N630. When we reached the village of Cernadilla another 6.5km further on the guide book said there was a bar where we could have a break for at least warmth and shelter. It was like a deserted village not a sign of life, a bar or a shop. We moved on a further 2km and took shelter in the porch of the church at San Salvador de Palazuelos where we had lunch. I had made a flask of coffee before leaving this morning and we now had food. As we sat there the rain had gone off and there was a few lighter patches in the sky but when on the go again it poured down again.

 

The walk would have been very nice now on a dry sunny day as we made our way along wooded lanes and little villages like Entrepenas. There was another large reservoir that we glimpsed through the mist and trees, the Embalse de Cernadilla, which I would have photographed in better conditions. As it was we had to contend with thick mud, large puddles, and diversions to the route caused by road or rail construction work. When we arrived at Asturiarios we thought this was our destination for the day, it's difficult at times to know the names of villages, they don't put welcoming signs up on the dirt lanes we use. When finding that there was still 3km to go we found a bar, there was one and it was actually open. Two cyclists who had passed us earlier were there having lunch, their bikes were outside caked in mud, they had stripped off and their clothes drying on a radiator. The coffee here was good, large and hot, just what we needed for the final push.

 

What a surprise when we came out the bar, the rain was off and there was patches of blue sky showing. I took off my poncho and the still strong wind with the sunny spells we were getting soon dried off my tights and shorts. We had two options from Asturiarios, the waymarked route through more mud or the cyclists way along the N630. We chose the drier main road and could see our destination Palacios de Sanabria not too far away. We didn't have to worry about finding our accomodation, the 'landlady' Teresa was waiting for us as we entered the tiny village and guided us to her house. There was no form filling, passport checks or exchange of money; I even wanted to stop at her front door to remove my muddy shoes, but no, she took us straight upstairs to, for us, a luxury bedroom with the central heating radiator generating welcoming warmth. She left us and we stripped off hung anything wet over the radiator and had a wonderful piping hot shower. We were feeling alive again.

 

At 7:00pm we got a call or dinner and Suzanna and Almont were already at the table. We were the only peregrinos there. This pair admitted that they took a bus from Asturiarios for the final 3km, they also said that the other couple at the albergue last night, they were Swiss, took a bus all the way to the next big town of Puebla de Sanabria. I don't know why these people go on a walking route and end up cheating. The meal was quite good, the usual 'menu' type but we had a sort of stew for main course which was a bit different. Almont, the German woman, moaned that it was cold, but she tends to complain about everything.

 

I seemed to be very tired after today's strenuous conditions and after the meal I made a cup of coffee on the cooker in the room then got to bed. I was sleeping not long after 8:00pm.