Date of visit: May 16, 2012, around 10:00 a.m.
Today is the third day of our pilgrimage. We are only 100km away from our final destination, Santiago de Compostela.
It takes about 30 minutes by highway from Ponferrada, where we stayed the day before, and the mountain roads become steeper from here.
The second stop of the day is Villafranca del Bierzo, a charming town in the mountains.
It’s a small town that would normally take a few minutes to cross. I was able to park my car at the right time in the small central square of such a small town.
The AUDI is also very dirty… I was driving fast.
It’s a small town, but the people are walking around, and although the number of people is small, I felt that the town is very active.
After all, a town with a medieval atmosphere like this in Europe really is a real RPG, isn’t it?
(Laughs) « This is the village of Villafranca del Bierzo, » so it wouldn’t be surprising if there were villagers who said that.
Move through the alley to around the entrance of the city.
A very fine facility caught my eye.
It seems to be a place called Convento de los Padres Paúles.
（こんなサイトあった！：http://www.viewat.org/?i=en&id_pn=15506&sec=pn）
It didn’t look like I could get inside.
The view of the town from the facility.
It is very typical of Spain that there are such monuments on ordinary street corners.
Entrance to the city. Impressive roundabout.
I feel like I could have parked my car easily if it was on this side.
On this day, too, I saw pilgrims all over the city. This person seemed to be on a pilgrimage by bicycle.
I was impressed by how many magnificent buildings this city has for its size.
This castle is also very magnificent.
But I went too early in the morning or I couldn’t go inside…. Well, I had to hurry up and I’ve visited many of these buildings, so I didn’t mind.
今日もガンガンドライブしなければ行けませんので、きりの良い所で切り上げて次の街へと向かいます。（続く）
