Villafranca del Bierzo to Las Herrerias

Miles walked 13.02

Steps taken 35,578

General notes Sad to leave our wonderful hotel, we set out after breakfast.  Saw lots more cats in town as we made our way out.  There is an alternative route that is more scenic, but it is longer and we accidentally started walking on it.  It was straight uphill.  We backtracked and stayed the traditional route that runs next to the road.  But, it was Sunday, so traffic was very light.  The route also tracks a river for a long ways, so it was a pleasant walk.

Leaving Villafranca del Bierzo 

Some haunted looking statues welcoming the local children to the playground 

Stopped for lunch at a bar.  The tortillas (an eggy, potato-y dish, not the flat tortillas we imagine) are always served with your fork stabbed into the top.

Las Herrerias is a sleepy little town.  We stopped here because we have quit the mountain to climb tomorrow and wanted to be rested and ready for the uphill walk.

The French Open was on in the bar below our room, so we watched with the locals as the 21 year old Spanish tennis player, Carlos Alcaraz beat the German Alexander Zverev.  The vibe was very casual.  There's a table of people playing cards with the game on in the background.  Folks keep coming in and out and watching for a minute and then moving on.  I'd expect craziness!  But, it's an older crowd, so maybe they just don't get too excited.  Or, maybe soccer is still #1 in their hearts.