day 13 of camino

Day 13 triacastela to saria about 20km.

Gorgeous most of the day, walked up a bit to a nice mountain overlooking the valley Saria is in. Nice descent into the town, through farms and lovely landscapes. Not much to say really.

Only 110 km to go to Santiago! Took a rest day, but now I'm ready to go 22km the longest trek get into portomarin. Weather should hold up.

Sorry for the short post, next one should be better.

Day 12 of the camino

Day 12: o'cebreiro to Tricastella.

20 km day. Wound up being harder than I thought it would be.  Was more up hill than expected, many valleys which I went up then down and the weather today was horrendous.  It was all the locals were talking about.  Hardcore hail, insane wind.  Snow! Lightning which legitimately frightened me.  Despite all that though it was a good day.  Made amazing progress towards Santiago.  My feet are a bit blistered, but I have a rest day quickly approaching.  Between the rain and snow and hail I caught some amazing views of the valley below.  Some great pictures once I get the time to run them through my computer.  I love the camino, and these kind of days exemplify that. 

I've made far better progress than expected.  Already I am easily a full day ahead of schedule.  Plus I had built into my itenerary significant catch up days for if I fell behind.  So I have thought long and hard about my options and have decided to try and push for the Finesterra Camino, instead of finishing in Santiago.  Finesterra is an additional 4 days, 90 km away from Santiago. It is the original finishing point of this pilgrimage before the Christians, what the pagans believed was the end of the Earth.  It was always my goal to try for it, but now I am confident I will have the time.  So now I plan on reaching Santiago on the 20th, exploring the city on the 21st and then moving on to finisterra, ending up there on the 25th. 

Dinner today was fabulous by the way.  Most of the town restaurants have a pilgrims menu of the day for 10 Euros with a whole bottle of local wine, bread and dessert.  Today for example I had a cold plate of local curred meats and cheese, a trout caught in the river behind the restaurant and a lovely chocolate flan.  Add in a Spanish dessert wine (we don't serve that porteguesse Port crap here!) and you have a fabulous cheap and hearty meal. 

For the history buffs among us Tricastella is a fascinating little town.  Once home to three castles, as the name would suggest, it was a crucial location in determining trade across Spain.  Most importantly for pilgrims, the limestone mined here in the local quarries was used in the creation of the Santiago cathedral.  Indeed medevil pilgrims would be given as much limestone as they could carry with them on their pilgrimages to Santiago to help build the cathedral. I am thankful to avoid carrying any limestone with me.  Frankly that sounds horrible. 

On to Sarria tomorrow, another 19km. Then a rest day to sooth my weary feet. 
Flickr should be up to date, though only with a portion of my total pictures.  so should yesterday's post.       

Days 10 and 11 on the camino

Sorry about the lack of posting lately. Once again I found myself without wifi. 

I'm pretty tired so I'll have to come back later to add more to this.
Day 10 was a long day, about 20km from Villafranca to Las hererias, a tiny Hamlet just before the climb into Galicia. Sun was beyond brutal, had to pick up sun screen at a pharmacy. Thankfully that weird weather and hot sun has passed and we are back to winter here in Spain.

This was a nice little hike, alongside beautiful rivers and roads through small Spanish villages. Las hererias is gorgeous. The meeting point of a few river systems, it's green and fertile. I can only imagine what early settlers thought when they came across it.

Day 11 was a shorter hike, only 8 or so km. But it certainly felt longer as it was almost all up steep unforgiving paths. Stunning vistas and views of valleys behind and Galicia ahead helped spur me on.

Galicia is an odd place, with strong Celtic ties, and traditions like bagpipes and even similar foods like cabbage and stews. Gorgeous though, it's really an Incredibly fertile land, with strong ties to the ocean and Mediterranean.

Lots of fun stories about this little town of o'cebreiro. The church is famous for a number of things. Firstly it was said to house the holy Grail for a number of years. Later it was the scene of a miracle when a local boy walked up the mountain for mass on a cold snowy winter day, the priest at the time chastised him for his piety, saying he should have stayed home. When he went to give the boy the sacrement the wine turned to blood and the bread to flesh, showing gods anger at the priest's words. This was recognized by the pope at the time as a legitimate miracle.

Lastly, but not least, this church was home to the modern father of the Camino, who famously drew many of the arrows we follow today and set in place the stone landmarks that I've taken pictures of. He famously was driving along the Camino one day and cave across a group of Basque rebels who were suspicious of this priest. He opened the car to show his cans of yellow spray paint and told them he was preparing for the invasion to come. Prophetic words as his work has ushered in a popularity in the Camino.

Tomorrow another long day into tricastella. Thankfully all downhill.

Sorry about the lack of pictures. Won't let me upload at the moment I'll try again later. Update: should have pictures now.