We’ve arrived in O Pedrouzo. Tomorrow we’ll walk the final 19 km into Santiago. Today we self-medicated along the trail with ibuprofen and chocolate, making frequent stops to rest achy feet.
The walking days are long, but full of beauty. This pilgrim is too tired to post much.
Cows, everywhere. 
Galaxy Quest?? “Never give up. Never surrender” I wonder if they saw the stairs coming… 
Ugh! 30km day to Portomarin, only to have these stairs at the very end. The city was relocated from the river valley when reservoir was built. 
Tristan with overlook of river/reservoir at Portomarin. 
Moisture droplets glisten in a spiderweb. At dawn on our way to Ribadiso. 
Ah Galicia. Fog-shrouded land. 
At Castromaior archeological site. A settlement from IV BC, if I recall correctly. 
The cutest little kitty. We tried to feed it cake and Spanish tortilla (egg/potato). We spent way too long at the cafe. 
Poor octopus about to become “pulpo”. 
Soaking feet in the river Iso. Very, very cold! Good
Welcome to Galicia! Saw this on a store front. So true!! Very fragrant and lots of brown squishy stuff!
Monday morning Mary and I set off in the dark for the descent from O Cebreiro to Triacastela. Tristan needed to opt for a taxi again. Even Mary was wearing her sandals since her big toe was too swollen for her hiking shoes.
We did have a good day though. Here’s a few photos.
I haven’t had good enough internet to upload photos for a few days. We’re still here; still walking. On Sunday we made it to O Cebreiro, albeit by taxi. Tristan and Mary have been having some foot issues and the extreme uphill and unfavorable weather forecast led us to take a taxi.
It was very chilly atop the mountain, but we had two cute, old-fashioned rooms in a Casa Rural, located over a Celtic gift shop and a coffee shop.
We enjoyed some hot food (caldo Gallego was very good) and Mary and I went to pilgrim mass in one of the most beloved little churches on the Camino.
O Cebreiro marked our departure from the region of León and entry into Galicia.
Our blessing:
“May love be the light of hope in your path.
May peace abound in your heart.
May goodness be your mark in life.
May your faith strengthen you in the mystery of life.
And when the moment comes for you to reach your eternal goal, may LOVE embrace you eternally.
Be happy and make others happy.”
We had just a beautiful atmosphere at the Cruz de Ferro yesterday morning. The sunrise was brilliant and the pilgrims respectful.
A few km from the cross we encountered a very unique hostel and hospitaleiro Tomás. We stopped to play with his kitten Carbonita. Tristan offered to have Carbonita join our pilgrimage but it was not to be.
The downhill from the cross (highest point on our trail at > 1500m) was tough. The trail descends over very steep and slippery schist for over 10km. I slipped once, but just got a skinned knee.
Our destination was the historic village of Molinaseca. Our host at hostel Señor Oso (Mr. Bear) was named José. He was quite the micromanager, but the hostel was clean and full of some of Tristan’s friends.
New friends Ana and Francie told us about ordering drinks at the river.
Today was a long trek across the Bierzo valley, a rich agricultural micro-climate full of vineyards. We’re all a bit sore or injured now, though. Tristan has adopted an ankle brace and is treating swollen arches. Mary has a toenail that wants to part ways with her foot. How fortunate that we made a new friend today. Mary and I walked most of the day with Karen, a traveling pediatrician from Minnesota.
Tomorrow is supposed to be very rainy and we are supposed to do a steep climb. I think it’s already been decided that we’ll taxi up to O Cebreiro and have a “recovery day”.
Our visit to Astorga was lovely. Mary and I took the bus to cut short what would have been a 31km day, but Tristan walked the whole way.
Our hostess Patrícia and her son Gabriel at the hostel Só por Hoje (“Just for today”) were lovely and welcoming.
We had a lively pilgrim dinner of classic Brazilian food and made some friends.
Tristan finally got a chance to go out and meet the ”young crowd”. There was apparently quite the gathering and a bit of a pub crawl to celebrate a pilgrim’s birthday.
We visited the chocolate museum and the Episcopal Palace designed by Gaudi. It was even more beautiful than I had imagined and I was glad to see it this time since Rich and I missed it in 2017.
I think I need to redecorate at home now.
We left Astorga yesterday morning headed up our first mountain to Foncebadón. Tristan was really feeling the long distance from the day before and struggled, even with his pack transported ahead. We ended up needing to call a taxi out from Astorga to transport us 5 km to Rabanal del Camino where I was hoping there would be a pharmacy.
Alas, no pharmacy, but an ice pack and some lunch enabled him to climb the last 5 km to our hostel.
Foncebadón, a tiny hamlet. They’ve paved the only road since I was here last time.
And Mary and I made it too. We met 80-something George on the way up. He’s from Alabama and doing his 6th Camino.
Absolutely gorgeous weather. We’ve been lucky so far! I was way too tired to post last night so… lots more to share. We’re in Molinaseca now about to go stick our feet in the river. Next post- our visit to Cruz de Ferro this morning!
On our way from Villar de Mazarife to Astorga, Wednesday.
We’re headed for those mountains.
We left later than we should have after a sleepless night. It turns out that having a hostel window that overlooks the main thoroughfare in old León makes for a noisy night. I also accidentally gave the baggage transport company that is handling Mary’s suitcase transfer the wrong pick up address. Whoops! That caused some unnecessary running around this morning.
Mary was able to help an American pilgrim in need last night. Our hostel companion Jeremy had locked his ATM card and needed to borrow Mary’s phone (with active cell service ) to get his money issues resolved. In thanks Jeremy gave Mary a gift of a knitted prayer square.
On our way out of León we visited the modern architectural gem the Basílica de la virgin del Camino. Somehow RIch and I missed this back in 2017.
We had a picnic lunch during which we ate some of the pastries we’d bought last night from a little bakery shop last night. Tristan got something that was a bit like a Spanish Stromboli with pepperoni-like sausage and hard boiled eggs.
On the trail this afternoon we made the acquaintance of another pilgrim Denise from Colorado and Antonietta from Cuomo, Italy.
Now hungry and tired pilgrims are waiting for the hostel/bar kitchen to open at 7 for dinner.
Mary, Tristan and I arrived safely in León after an uneventful flight over. We’ve settled into our first hostel now and already met some pilgrims and Mary has fallen for a young beagle pup we’ve met on the street (the owners were very nice too).
We visited the cathedral this morning, got our first pilgrim stamp and have explored the old city and down to the river. Unfortunately a number of the museums are closed on Mondays.
So many well wishes from folks on the street already. It will be wonderful to be off on the trail tomorrow.
