Felt quite a bit better today and completed the 24 km to Villafranca del Bierzo (guidebook said 21, but I’ve learned to take these estimates with a grain of salt).

It’s a charming little place with several medieval buildings and a huge church, the Iglesia Colegiata.

A curiosity on the way into town is the Romanesque Iglesia de Santiago. A posting says that its doors open only in holy years to pilgrims who are too sick or to weak to complete the journey to Santiago de Compostela.

By special dispensation, a pilgrim can receive his Compostela certificate without completing the final 191 km to Santiago.

I somehow beat the luggage delivery service to my hotel, but only by about an hour. I’ll forward once more tomorrow and hopefully be back to 100% the following day and carrying my pack.

The hospitalero marked several dinner spots on the map and circled the huge Colegiata, saying that a pilgrim’s meal would be served there at 19:30.

That sounded great to me, so I walked to the building at the appointed time and found…a beautiful, empty church. No pilgrims, no meal.

I had a nice dinner anyway at another place of local food, including a piece of spicy sausage and some part of a pig that has many, tiny bones. It was a bit of work, but worth it.

Tomorrow begins the long, steep climb into Galicia.