Day 23 - Molinaseca to Cacabelos

     Today was planned to be a shorter day, because we wanted to be able to spend some time at Ponferrada, which has a restored Castle of the Knights Templar.

    It was significantly warmer than yesterday.  We started without jackets, and peeled of our remaining outer layer less than an hour into the walk.  Most of today was also spent in urban zones, with a couple of deviations into farmland and vineyards. 

    As a result, there were not too many birds (outside of urban and suburban types, and no new sightings.
    And it got hot.  After the early morning, those insects would not sit still for a photo.  I don't think I saw a butterfly land within 20 feet of me after 10AM.

    So not much of a nature day.
    We did spend 2 hours touring the castle in Ponferrada, which was really the highlight of the day.  We could have spent a whole day (or multiple days) there.  But the layout for the self-guided tour was like an Ikea store layout retrofitted with an Escher staircase.  After the hrs I swear we had done over a thousand stairs - and I think Jana's runkeeper credited her with more than 2 miles within the castle confines.  I will provide more details on some of the highlights in the photos.

    With that morning investment in Ponferrada, we pushed hard in the afternoon to get to our hotel just before 4PM.  13.5 miles of Camino progress, and 16.5 miles of runkeeper distance.  37,000 steps.  

    We are both feeling pretty good.  But today was warm, which makes (at least for me) grumpy feet.  And we have definitely lost that New Pilgrim smell.  I'm pretty sure we lost it a long time ago, but the heat today really added something new to our auras.

    28 species today (all the 'usual suspects').  Nothing new.  We heard a few new critters, but were unable to spot them.

    Now for some pictures!

    We had a complimentary breakfast at our Albergue this morning, prepared by our hosts.  Hams, salamis, Iberian ham, toast, jellies, croissants, juices, cheeses, cereals, coffee, tea....  The breakfast was great! And our hosts were super-sweet. Holiday Inn Express could learn a lot here.   But if you look at the clocks on the wall, a few interesting observations:  If you can't read the labels, they are "Los Angeles, Canada, Australia (and bottom), Espana" - I was unaware that Canada (and Australia) had a single time zone and will have to ask Jana's mom about how that's working out for her;  also note that none of the minute hands on any of the clocks match.  This was also at 7:15 AM, so even the Spain clock is off by half an hour.

    After our later start (because of breakfast) - the sun was already up by the time we got started at 8:00AM.  (or whatever time it said on the wall above)

    A Barn Swallow on the way out of town:

    And a Black Redstart all puffed up in a tree at the edge of the historic district:

    And a Eurasian Linnet that seemed to want all the wires:

    We took a slight detour through a less urban area.  I took a picture of the rolling hills/mountains above the town, trying to figure out which one we came down the day before:

    A picture of a Drone Fly - a type of hoverfly that is a honeybee mimic:

    A rarer glance at  Eurasian Blackcap.  We hear them everywhere, but they usually are full embedded in the brush or in the trees, so seeing them is a lot less common than hearing them:

    I believe this is a Subalpine Warbler looking over its shoulder at us, that dallied far too long at the pub last night:

        Continuing to walk the town perimeter, mostly through farmland, a good looking European Serin:

    A good look at a Black Kite:

    The poppies are back, but in this area they may not be around much longer:

    A European Greenfinch on the wire:

    Jana crossing the foot-bridge into the urban center:

    Once in Ponferrada proper, we got our first view of the Castle:

    These castles were enormously difficult to win-over in battle.  They had all sorts of features, like these keyholes for attacking an enemy with minimal exposure:

    A view of the Church of St Andrew from the top of the castle wall:

    And looking at the turret from the top of the wall:

    We climbed to the top of the turret - a very tight spiral staircase meant for short people with very long legs (tall stairs, but no headroom):

     There was a museum room in one of the turrets on the ranks of various nobles and royalty and business classes of artists and artisans.  Downstairs was a full exhibit on the Knight's of the Templar.  But it was a lot of stairs.  And we had already done a lot of stairs.  But I could get one shot of one of the Knight models through the handrails:

    And one of the courtyards looked to be set up for a wedding.  I wonder what it costs to rent a castle for a wedding?

    There were a few different libraries with old texts behind glass.  Some were multiple hundred years old.  This one was not quite as old, but I found it personally fascinating:  a copy of Don Quixote, illustrated by Dali:

    And a whole room of castle-kits - I think you can purchase them (lego-style):

    Eventually (2hrs later), we did have to start to make up time to get to our next site on time.  As we left, I took a good-bye photo of the castle:

    We stepped briefly into the Cathedral of St Andrew, not realizing it was mid-Mass.  We did depart quickly.

    Rather than taking the path down the center of the park, we chose the River-walk.  It was pleasant and cooler than the pavement up top.

    After a long walk through the length of a major city, we came out the other side, and up the hillside.  With full zoom, I could still see the castle one last time:

    It was warm.  The Wall Lizards were out:

    Once we were out of the main part of town, a long walk along a suburban road:

    And into the next town of Camponaraya.  With the typical bell tower and White Stork:

    And a Re-bar statue:

    After an uphill climb out of town, we found ourselves on a dirt-farm road in a very well-established vineyard.  No guide-strings needed because the vines were as thick as my thigh.  To be fair, though, my thighs are not too thick.

    Another Wall-Lizard:

    Continuing on the country-road through vineyards and forest-breaks:

    Hey!  Less than 200km remaining!

    Another last climb, and it is getting HOT:

    We finally reach our destination - Cacabelos.  But then I am informed that Cacbelos is not small, and that we have 1.5km remaining.  I feel better when we move from the traffic-heavy street to one that is foot-traffic only.

    And I see my first Pulperia (octopus-only restaurant:

    We finally get to the church next to the river, where we are spending the night.

    We came back to this same location after getting cleaned up.  It is about 50 yards from a Lavanderia (laundromat), and this bar was the only one we could find with an open kitchen before 8PM.   But there is one detail you might have missed in left bottom corner of the picture above:

    More tomorrow.  It is going to be another warm one, but if all goes well, in two days we climb up our last mountain range and should get some respite from the heat.