The topography has changed a lot over the past two days. From the flat Meseta, to a more hilly and interesting landscape. With it has come vineyards which accompanied me on today’s walk for much of the day.
Dawn walking out of Ponferrada was very nice as the city is surrounded by mountains so the sun creeping down the hills was a beautiful sight. It wasn’t long before vineyards came into view, all of which were in different phases of fall color.
When I stopped for lunch Kaitlyn joined me for a few miles until I branched off to take the more scenic and slightly longer route into Villafranca. It was similar to the Willamette Valley, except all the buildings are hundreds of years older and perhaps the vines too? I did some reading and the wine here is apparently very similar to the Pinot Noir that Oregon is famous for. No wonder I felt at home.
A week ago it was Sunday in a very quiet and lonely town in the Meseta. Today I arrived to Villafranca de Bierzo and a much more active and populated town. A town with great pilgrim history including several convents and monasteries, three maybe four churches and a small castle. The town is laid out around a beautiful river with the respective puente’s for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
There are many more pilgrims now, so the town was full of good cheer and activity, which was nice. I also passed the 200km to Santiago marker early in the day. So I feel like I am getting closer!
Amy's Camino 