Day 4 - Ponferrada to Cacabelos/Pieros

After having a good time in Ponferrada last night, I allowed myself to sleep in today. The hostel in Cacabelos/Pieros was reserved, so I had time. I left the hotel around half past 9 and bought bread and sausage from the supermarket across the street and had breakfast on the go. The path didn't lead through particularly charming suburbs of Ponferrada. To pass the time, I started doing some exercises in my Spanish app, but soon stopped because the path led along a road where cars passed by every now and then. I had already spotted a bodega in the travel guide where you could get a glass of wine and something to eat for only 1.50€. When I arrived there, I ordered a glass of white wine and sat on the terrace in the shade. Soon, a young Spaniard named Hector joined me and we started talking. He's from Madrid but lives in Chicago. He's actually an actor, but like many actors, he doesn't earn enough, so he supplements his income by teaching literature and theater at a high school. It turned out that we both had reserved at the same hostel, so we continued together. The travel guide mentioned another bar where pilgrims apparently get a free glass of wine, so we aimed for that as our next stop. The path now led through smaller forest areas and vineyards, which was more scenic. When we reached the mentioned 'locale' and went inside, we met, surprise surprise, the Canadian Natalie and the two Argentinians Llorene and her boyfriend Mariano again. They also wanted to go to our hostel. After we actually got a little cup of red wine for free and chatted with the waitress who also spoke some Spanish, we walked the last 1.5 km to the hostel. Hector wanted to visit a church in the village, so he went ahead. On the way through the village, we met the other Germans from Rabanal again, and they all had reserved in the same hostel!

The hostel strongly reminded me of a 'hippie commune' but was really cozy. I got a lower bunk bed out of the 6 bunk beds in the dormitory, took a shower, and sat on the terrace to read. Dinner was served at 7pm, but not in a restaurant - the hostel's team cooked for us and the 18 guests were divided into two tables. Since we couldn't agree on a language that everyone understood at our table, dinner resembled a game of 'telephone'. At my table, there were two older Polish women (one spoke only Polish and some Spanish, the other Polish and fluent German), the Californian Estevan from San Diego (Spanish and English), the two Argentinians, Natalie, and me. Since it was a vegetarian hostel, we had roasted vegetables with couscous and plenty of red wine. After we all filled our stomachs and then finished off the last remnants of wine on the terrace, we went to bed.

I must say, it's really something special when you come together with others like today and get to know many different perspectives and ways of life. Ultimately, that's what the Camino is all about, and I highly recommend it to everyone!