Cacabelos to Trabadelo

We woke up this morning feeling more refreshed than usual. I think we were wearing down a bit and the extra rest time we gained yesterday really helped. Right across the street from the Hostal where we stayed last night was a pretty little church. 

We found an ATM machine in town before hitting the Camino but sometimes in the twisty and windy little streets and alleyways it is hard to figure out where you are. We were scratching our heads and looking at the map when a police officer walked up to us and told us which way to go. He asked if I was Dutch and I told him no I was an Americano from Texas. He said “ahhh Tejas.. muy muy bueno”. Apparently he liked Texas a lot. He wanted pictures with Savanna and I and introduced himself as Juan Carlos. 

He watched us heading down the street and as we reached a turning point he blew his whistle and signaled us to go right. We also saw him again when he drove his car to the edge of town and yelled “Good bye” to us. We found that everyone over here knows about Texas.

We spent the hot and humid morning walking through vineyards and fields. 

About 10 am we went through a tiny village and a guy had a little bar in his garden area. He squeezed fresh orange juice for Savanna and I had an outstanding Café Americano. 

I told him I liked the music playing and when we were leaving he handed me a slip of paper with the name of the artist on it. I was surprised the musician was an Aborigine from Australia. The kindness people show us over here is amazing sometimes.

We walked into the village of Villafranca just before noon. We were very surprised when we rounded a corner and there stood this huge castle. 

It was built in the 16th century by the second Marquis. Over the years since its's construction, the castle and the town around it have suffered the plague, floods and invaders that tried to demolish the castle and the church. 

The Church of Santiago Villafranca predates the castle and was built in 1186. The Northern doorway is called the “door of forgiveness”. Those pilgrims unable to continue their way, due to illness, were granted the same indulgences as if they had finished their pilgrimage and reached Santiago de Compostela. If they entered by this door, took communion, they were pardoned for their sins. 

Villafranca sits on the banks of a river as do a lot of the larger villages we walk through. The water looked very good to a couple of hot sweaty pilgrims like us. 

The village seemed to be kind of a center for art and culture. We walked by a building that had Casa de Culture on the sign. Everywhere we looked there were sculptures and paintings. 

Also on the way out of town we passed a sign that showed the distance to Santiago. Of course that is highway distance. I will have to sit down and figure out trail distance. 

The walk to our stopping point for tonight was mainly along a highway that is not used much and there was not a whole lot to take pictures of. We did pass this sign where someone had left some words of wisdom. 

We made it into the tiny village of Trabadelo and our little hostel was right next to the trail. So time for a shower and a bite to eat so until tomorrow, Buen Camino!