DAY 32. PONFERRADA

Day 33 and I'm in a delightful family owned and run Albergue in Ponferrada. It features all bed linens (so no one uses sleeping bags or sacks of there own) for the regular price of 10 euros.  I reposted the map page so you can visualize my walk today.  I began in daylight at 7 am and walked nearly 9 miles in a little less than six hours.  The first mile was downhill on a country road; the next four miles was an extremely steep downhill in what one could characterize as a stream bed more than a trail.  It is notorious as one of the more dangerous sections of the camino.  One you definaly don't walk in the dark.  And, rarely will you see a bicycle on this trail, but this morning I did see one!
Reached the town of Molinaseca just after 10am, sun out and getting warm. I took off my fleese jacket, put on my hat and white sun shielding Cape for the last half of today's journey which was uphill all the way on a broad sidewalk along a busy road to the large city of Ponferrada.   Nice to be here about noon.  My bunkmate is David from Spain who speaks excellent English.  The other 2 bunks in our room are still empty but the day is young.  Looking forward to a delicious community dinner tonight with home grown ingredients from the family garden.
Last night in the hotel dining room there were six at our table, 2 germans, a French couple from Paris and  my south Korean friend Seulgi... I finally had her spell it for me.  We all spoke English which was great for me.   Back feels better today after some treatment yesterday at the hotel spa.  Also picked up 5 patch treatments to stick on the skin at a pharmacy as I walked through town.  Best thing was adjusting the straps on my backpack that I carry.  Looking forward to meeting more new people at dinner tonight. Tomorrow I begin walking in the area of Spain known as Galicia... a touch of the Irish and very green mountains due to more than average rainfalls.  So , I'm now carrying my new raincoat in my backpack as one never knows when there will be a surprise shower!
Buen Camino