The Princesses meet some angels

Update from Ponferrada Spain. We are in the heart of the Bierza area, which lies between the Maragato and the Galician Mountains. There is a weeklong festival in town and we are hoping that we can see some of the festivities tonight.
Two days ago when we were walking into Aztorga we met our first angel. She was a beautiful Spanish woman all dressed in white and just when we thought that our feet wouldn´t carry us another step at the tale end of 30 kms. she appeared. She offered us fruit and water or juice and gave us a huge hug to encourage us along our way....we couldn´t help but think of her as an angel in the wilderness.

Then we met our next angel....his name is Rafael and he is citizen of 4 countries. He was standing on a hillside and was using what I would call a daguerrotype camera. He is a professional photographer who wants to take exceptional large negatives of his ¨camino¨. He is accompanied by his parents from Mexico city, who are driving ahead and finding accomodation. His father is recovering from lymphoma treatments so can only walk short distances. The angel Raphael offered his parents assistance to our camino amiga Dawn who continues to suffer from blisters and a black toenail from the pressure of her original shoes.

So like the ¨princesses¨we are, this man and his family have now transported Dawn and our bag to Ponferrada where we are all staying in a small hotel across from a Medieval castle which we look at from our balcony window. Tomorrow we plan to travel to Sarria which will eliminate 2 days of walking and allow Dawn some extra time to heal her feet.

Our ´bible¨for this trip has been John Brierley´s Guide to the Camino. We are now disregarding his recommended mileage and moving to our own schedule. We want to slow the pace a bit and savour every last moment in this beautiful place....and perhaps sample even more of the local vino tintos.