We walked out of Riano in beautiful hiking weather. This large reservoir is fed by the Rio Esla, and we'll continue following the same river for the next four days. We're slowly leaving our beloved mountains behind and heading into the flats.
After walking on a combination of roads and trails for several km, we covered the last few km to the dam along road. Right before the dam we walked through the tunnel at the left edge of the photo (not scary: there's a good sidewalk next to the road surface), then dropped down a little service road to the river below the dam.
Once we hit the Rio Esla it was great walking. Much of the time we were walking on an old Roman road, on the actual stones laid down two millenia ago.
The old road surface is in remarkably good condition. Those large blocks along the river side of the road are original. This river was a favorite fishing spot of Generalissimo Franco. Beautiful clear and very fast-moving water. But we were told that there aren't as many fish since the dam came in due to the change in water temperature.
Occasionally we left the road surface to walk through overgrown meadows. We've learned that tall grass means ticks. At the end of the day we'd pull many off our legs (one day Ellen took off 20; I don't count).
We ended this day's stage at the small village of Cremenes. Had a great meal in the sole restaurant (Huelde), and took a very nice room in the same place upstairs. After washing up we had an enjoyable walk around the village. Not many pilgrims pass this way, and everyone was very friendly to us. We had a long chat with an elderly couple outside their home: he was about to turn 92 and she was 89. They live most of the year in the large city of Leon, but spend summers here because it's so peaceful and the people so agreeable.
The next morning we were back on the Roman road for about 5 km more. It's quite a feat of engineering. Amazing the infrastructure projects one can build with slave labor.
Ellen makes friends everywhere she goes. When our trail crossed a road this fellow trotted over from his home to say hi. Note the yellow arrow trail marker in the background. This is the only camino we've been on which is mostly marked in both directions.
Our path continued through the Rio Esla valley.
By mid-afternoon we arrived at the town of Cistierna. As we were trudging up the hill through town, following our sketchy directions toward the albergue, a man on the sidewalk stopped his conversation to ask us if that's where we were headed. He then lead us up the remaining few blocks and checked us in to the albergue. The only other person there was a woman from Leon bike touring for a few days (not a pilgrim). We had a room with two beds to ourselves; unfortunately there was no hot water so the shower was a quick one.
After washing up we walked back into town and had a truly great meal at the Restaurante Moderne. In the evening we sat at a table outside one of the town's many bars enjoying a beer and tapas. It seemed that everyone else in town was doing the same thing on this Saturday night.
Signage on this camino is not always clear. Right arrow would take us back toward Cremenes, left is the direction we were heading the next morning, no idea about center (the street only forked two ways here).
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