DAY THREE 13 May 16 Ponferrada and Environs

Woke up quite late, for us, 8.30am, must be sleeping well! Breakfast was a decent buffet with few people in the dining room. There was a coach group of seniors, all women, from Sevilla staying at the hotel and they ate in a separate dining room. This hotel must cater to tour groups, there is a different group here today.

Church next to the Castilla

We decided to head out to Las Medulas in El Bierzo. The history of El Bierzo goes back to prehistoric times and is an area of outstanding beauty. So happy that it is not raining today though it is cloudy and overcast. The Romans, who played a very important role in Spain, found an area of huge riches and found gold in them thar hills! They were, perhaps, the first “frackers”, though they used only water to extract the gold! They dug galleries through the mountain and forced water through it causing the mountain to collapse. It left behind an array of red rocks that look very much like Sedona Arizona surrounded by lush forests. Quite remarkable! You have to park quite a way out of town and walk in. There are

View from out Temple Room.

ruins of Roman dwellings and 150 kilometers of canals.  The water was transported by canals from Cabrera and the Aquiliano mountains. I think that busload of tourists from our hotel was there and there was no way Paul was going walk 3 miles through tunnels and caves so we opted for the Mirador.  Once you parked there, after driving through tiny villages with very scruffy dogs sounding the alarm, you still had to climb to the top to view the “ruina montium”! it was gorgeous, though I had to make the climb alone as Paul opted out, yet again. It was tough even though the road was excellent. I don’t know why they don’t have a little shuttle or ATV wagoneer to ferry people up to the top. There is a little cabin which accesses one of the tunnels. This comes out at a cave about 10 minutes walk away halfway up a rock face on the side of the mountain. It is pitch black and you have to wear a hard hat and carry a flashlight! Now I am as adventurous as the next one but that did not thrill me so I  wandered down the hill admiring wildflowers and chestnut trees. Did you know that chestnuts were a fundamental part of the Roman diet? Neither did I, but now these selfsame chestnuts are exported in quantity. A sign reminds you that the trees are privately own and not to pick the nuts. Too early for nuts anyway.

Red hills look similar to Sedona Arizona -- only 20Km from Ponferrada.

Cacabelos Temp Sign in Fahrenheit. 59F

El Bierzo is isolated and totally natural and wild. The roads through the villages are very narrow and the buildings if not exactly ancient, are really old. We headed out on a circular drive through the mountains and past the Lake which was formed after the Romans collapsed the mountain. Lovely old villages, very little traffic until we came to Cacabelos which looked quite promising in the restaurant department. You know, in Spain you never really feel hungry. Every time you buy a drink in this area, even coffee, they give you a little something. A cookie, a pincho of stewed beef and a slice of bread, a bit of tripe on bread, stewed chicken, that sort of thing, just to keep the wolf from the door! However when it gets to about 2.30 or 3 o’clock you had better eat something because these places are closing and you wont get a proper bite to eat until after 9pm! Back at the hotel by 4PM for siesta time the tour bus was parked out front block a vacant parking spot but he was unwilling to move the bus for me. And so we found spot just around the corner and it took only one revolution around the block to find it!

And so after a refreshing siesta hour, we wandered out again to walk the area around Hotel Temple and to find some refreshment for what should qualify as suppertime. We ended up at the same cafeteria just down from the hotel for drinkies which always include a pincho to eat.  We chatted with the young gal and also watched the Valencia vs San Sebastian football match on TV. Note that we did not see Guillermo in the stands rooting for Real Socialdad (San Seb) when we departed it was still knotted at 0-0. And so we wandered across the bridge into the pedestrian part of town and found a lovely bar that reminded us of the back streets of San Sebastian. Drinkies again along with calamares to eat but this time only a ½ raccione sized serving. It was now 1000 and time to head towards the bed at the hotel. A full day by anyone’s standard.