Day 33
Aside from the old town and castle in Ponferrada, the last few days have been full of a lot of modern concrete and suburbs. This is actually beneficial for us pilgrims because I think it’s important for us to see how normal people live here. It’s easy to get this image of Spain into your head that’s just old churches and sangria and narrow, medieval lanes. More often it’s probably made up of bus stops, neon-colored playgrounds, car dealerships, and dentist offices with giant smiles covering the windows. That aspect of Spain is a lot like home. (Which I love, of course.) That aspect of Spain is a lot like anywhere? After three days of mostly roadside walking in “anywhere”-type Spain, this morning I was SO ready for what my 2.5 guidebooks had suggested: outside of Pieros, look for the fading yellow arrows on the asphalt pointing right. Follow them into the vineyards.
I am not worthy to describe how beautiful this detour was, so I will stick only to the basic facts: early morning, slight breeze, vineyards on a three mile stretch of gentle hills, overstuffed clouds rising from the valleys, leaves touched by fall, empty, quiet, peaceful. I kept thinking I’d round the next corner and there would be stadium seating and 400 people just hanging out, watching the mist roll off the vines and weeping for the prettiness of it all. Instead, the next turn would lead to something like the best barn Instagram has ever seen or a ball of kittens sleeping on a doorstep. The dirt path snaked through three villages and I did see a few locals, all old folks. Part of me wanted to shake them a little bit: “Do you SEE that out there? Is it ALWAYS LIKE THAT?! Why aren’t you selling tickets to this?! Which house has the best view? I’ll buy it!!!”
Good thing I’m not confident enough in my Spanish to *yell at people* yet. :-)
