Oh, O Cebreiro

"This stage represents one of the steepest of the whole pilgrimage but the climb is rewarded with stunning views along the Valcarce valley that will keep spirits high." John Brierley, A Pilgrim's Guide to the Camino de Santiago.

Today's view:

It's a well-deserved (for Gina and Ellie) rest day in O Cebreiro, an old village (pop. 50) which sits at the top of this mountain. Spirits high, hah. I'm not sure our spirits were exactly high when first arriving but even in exhaustion we could still appreciate beauty.

We've just had breakfast and now will search for laundry services, and the rest of the day will be spent lounging. We'll start walking again tomorrow (Friday, June 22) and if everything goes OK, we'll walk into Santiago on Thursday, June 28.

It is simply gorgeous up here. Everywhere you turn is another amazing view, green and lush. Tiny towns appear every once in a while; the primary industry seems to be the Camino. Generations of folks in this stretch of Spain have grown up accustomed to smelly backpackers, sometimes dozens at once, tromping through their towns.

After my own rest day in Astorga, the three of us were reunited in Molinaseca on Monday evening -- Gina and Ellie had endured two tough days and were feeling some aches. Tuesday morning we started walking again. Rumors of cool weather were unfounded. Y'all, it's hot here. We've thought about our Camino friend Annette who bought herself a new sleeping bag last week because the evenings had been so cold -- like me and others, she had just brought a simple sleep sack. But now we think her new purchase will not be that useful. It ain't cold anymore.

Tuesday night was spent at the El Castillo albergue in Villafranca -- here's the view out back from Gina's bunk:

One of our roommates was an older French guy, who, like Bushy Eyebrows (Bushy Eyebrows, where are you??), doesn't speak much English. He did convey that he will come to the United States in August to walk the Appalachian Trail. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it is highly unlikely that he will meet anyone on the AT who speaks French. Perhaps he won't be hiking alone -- I hope he has a translator with him.

Wednesday was Doug Henard's birthday so we thought especially of him as we trekked along. It wasn't TOO hard of a day -- we stopped in a lovely little town called Herrerias for lunch; Gina treated us to a pitcher of sangria which we're happy to report didn't adversely affect the rest of our day. 

Last evening after we settled into our B&B (called Venta Celta [see above photos] -- Celtic culture is also found here in Galicia [Galithia]) -- we went to the nightly Mass and sweet blessing for pilgrims. The priest was a very young, smiling Franciscan; after the simple Mass, he invited all 20 or so of us around the altar and gave us his blessing, walking around the circle and hugging each of us. A woman followed him with a basket of smooth stones each painted with the Camino yellow arrow, a small gift for us to take home to remind us of our pilgrimages. 

At Mass we recognized a few folks we've seen along the way, like Lynn, the hyper fast 64-year old pilgrim who is originally from Tupelo, Mississippi. We met her Tuesday morning as she blazed past us in Ponferrada -- as she strode along, she grinned at us and called out, "You girls having fun?" Later that morning we ended up in the same coffee shop (across the street from the 11th century Knights Templar castle) for breakfast and chatted with her a while. Her pilgrimage had started around May 25 at St. Jean; after a few days of pain she decided to ship her bag each day, and so she's been speeding along ever since.

I've finally realized that listening to music and podcasts (like Amy Sullivan's "Impolite Company") is useful in passing the hours. My feet are a bit better -- blisters have mostly healed, and walking without a pack -- yay for the ship-ahead service -- seems to ease the stress on my tootsies. I'm still much slower than Gina and Ellie, a bit of a blow for this super fast urban walker. They gamely wait for me every once in a while so that we can check in and decide our next move.

The best part, of course, of this whole excursion is having so much uninterrupted time with Gina and Ellie. We've had some good conversations and laughed a lot -- I'm not terribly surprised but it's nice to have affirmation that flexibility and humor are family traits.

We loved seeing the cows on the way up the mountain: