Day 7 – Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo

26km from Ponferrada to Villafranca del Bierzo under the sun. I never want to do it again, but it was beautiful! This leg was highlighted by a nice farmers market on the way out of Ponferrada which included a cheese truck! a churro truck! and cherries. Lots of cherries to snack on. And a gorgeous old wine country. We couldn’t find a place to stay when we got to Villafranca until we stopped for dinner nearly defeated. We picked a great place to eat because the restaurant owner was a nice man who called a friend with room in a hotel on the outskirts close to the camino path out of town. I had an ensalada rusa on the road for lunch and a nice sopa gallega (puchero?) with chicken milanesa for dinner and will now bathe in layers of aloe to get rid of the sunburn. One of the interesting things along the way is the amount of bright and beautiful houses alongside completely abandoned yet seemingly once-glorious buildings. I find myself wishing that someone could come along to bring them back from destruction.