The Shortest Day

We left Ponferrada for what would be our shortest ride yet. Our next destination was only 26 kilometers away. However, it was a beautiful day. We are in the heart of the Bierrzo wine valley. It is lush and filled with gorgeous rolling hills filled with vines. We followed the camino trail through the vineyards soaking in the green hills and blue skies. As we made our entrance into Villafranca, Paul started noticing a problem with his bike. His gears seemed to be slipping, especially on climbs. It was in this same city four years ago that Paul had to have his bike repaired. After we checked into a our hotel de jour, we took his bike to the local bike shop. We explained the problem and the owner said he would take a look at it but to come back later as he was leaving for lunch. We did the same and then we set off to explore the tiny town. Villafranca sits nestled at the base of the mountains which separate the provinces of Leon and Galicia. Those mountains were our goal for tomorrow. For tonight. We just wanted a good meal. Unfortunately, that was not to be the case. We thought we had chosen well and the evening started off well. Sitting next to us were the first Americans we have met on the camino. Chris and Nora were a young couple from New York who were walking the Camino for the second time. They had done the first half last year and were finishing up this year. They were a delightful couple to chat with while
Waiting for service which was slow even for Spanish standards. We finally received our meals which frankly we both thought was the worst of our trip so far. We had ordered steaks with a sauce, which had been our standard dinner on the trip.Our's were covered in such a thick sauce which I think was meant to disguise how undercooked the meat was. I don't mind rare, but this was a 1/2 inch slab that was raw. When I complained, our snooty young heroin-addicted looking waiter, informed me that it was prepared as it should be. I was too tired to argue with him. But Paul and I were not happy. We paid our bill grudgingly and headed off to get some rest. Tomorrow, the big climb of the Camino beckoned.