Day 30 - slept in Sarria - July 27

Up at 7am, out of the alberge by 8am, I woke up to discover I got my period, again. Yes I've been here so long that I've now gotten it twice. Last time it was so light I thought maybe it would be the finale and I'd leave my period on the Camino but no, now it's as heavy as can be. "All of the exercise" someone told me. I ran through my morning routine, drank a hot tea at the alberge, and headed out for the third steepest climb of the Camino: from 600 meters to 1400 meters! You can see the steep grade in stage 28 on my pilgrim paper at the bottom of the post.

I walked by a corral where you could rent a horse to take you up the mountain and so I inquired within but they were already complete for the day. I was walking faster than the horses at first, but then they passed me. The weather was sublime and it was all I could do to not take too many pictures.

The mountains of Galicia are very different because of the westerly winds coming across the Atlantic and everything is lush. You can tell there are frequent rain showers and misty mountain fog but today was a glorious goldilocks day, not too hot, not too cold, it was just right. I climbed through the farmland full of mazes of mountain streams dividing small, intimate fields and pastures grazed by cattle, with sheep, pigs, geese, and chickens all foraging around. I love this kind of rustic countryside. This is the region famous for the Albarino wine, and Ribeiros the other white wine that goes well with their local cheese, quince jelly and famous almond tarte (tarta de Santiago). Thick hot soups (caldo gallego) and rich vegetable and meat stews now dominate the menus as do fish dishes and the famous steamed octopus. And for whatever reason, the Spanish here are back to using the X instead of the J, which seemed to be the case in Basque country too, making everything look all the more foreign.

When I finally summited over the last crest on the top of the mountain, there were three separate crests, I was gratefully heading down the other side to destination Fonfria but as soon I arrived in Fonfria, I knew there would have to be a change. It was a shit town. Literally. There was cow shit everywhere. It was in the fields and farmhouses all right but it was also in the streets, mixing with some kind of agricultural water, streaming down the gutters, and it was disgusting. The alberge was a sorry looking building and the whole place stunk to high heaven so I asked the helpful guy if he could call me a taxi. I found out that Dee had gone on to Sarria, a beautiful city on the river, and so I paid a pretty Euro to cab 30 kilometers to meet her and Roy from Australia. After the 20 kilometers I walked, boy was I happy to see them! We sat outside for hours on this beautiful terrace by the river and had so much fun drinking and catching up and talking about wine (one label had braille on it). Then we headed back to the the cute pension they found (where we each had our own room and shared a shower down the hall) and partied some more! A perfect ending to a stellar day.

"On all peaks lie peace."
- Goethe

Day 31 - slept in Gonzar/Palas del Rei - July 28

Woke up at 8am, out of the pension by 9am, Roy had already left and Dee was in no hurry. I could tell by the look in her eyes she was ready to bus it again. She had some kind of motive to go to Gonzar so I went along. We had a leisurely walk thorough beautiful Sarria and stopped in at a pilgrim shop. Sarria was a major medieval center for pilgrims and the ancient atmosphere can still be felt in the attractive old quarter where our pension was. It is also the starting point for pilgrims who just want to do the last 100 kilometers to get the compostela at Santiago. As such, there was an influx of 'city pilgrims' as they came to be known. We headed down to a hotel, found out that no buses run on Sunday, and were directed to the taxi stand.

We set off for Gonzar in the cab. She wanted the cab to "drop us off on the outskirts of town so no one would see us," I said "please" in my best puh-leeze sarcastic tone. I didn't care if anyone knew I bused it or cab'd it or got a ride here and there. I told her "a loving pilgrim welcomes all they meet along the path" and she said "I don't mean to be rude but shut the F up" and smiled in good jest. That's the way she was :) and so that became the quote of the day. When we arrived in Gonzar, no one saw us get out, so she was happy again and we set off to find one of the two alberges in town that some guy was going to be staying at. "Ah ha, that was the motivation, I should've known." Once we checked into a nice, old building with wooden beams and large dorms with clean beds, we headed up to the cafe so she could get Wi-Fi.

I went inside to order and there was Raphael from Spain, always a wonderful surprise. We sat outside with Dee awhile and then he went into the other alberge for a siesta. I was about to head back to my bunk for my own siesta when Dee found out this guy had gone on to Palas del Rei and she wanted to motor it forward. "Really" I said? "He's that worth it?" Apparently so. So I reluctantly packed up my bag again while she called another cab. We hopped in and sped off and I wondered once more if I'd ever see Raphael again.

Once we were almost to Palas del Rei, Dee realized she lost her iPhone. Good grief, the drama of the day started compounding. Instead of going directly back, she wanted to check into the alberge and find her friend so we did that first and then tried to figure out where she left it from there. Long story short, we finally talked her into going back to the previous alberge in Gonzar because it had to be there, and thankfully it was :) Out of the window on The Way, I could see busloads of 'city pilgrims' and realized the Camino's become touristy.

We taxi'd a total of 43 kilometers and she never hooked up with the guy, the whole thing turned out to be a bust.  I was low on energy so when she came back with hamburgers and red wine, I couldn't even finish mine. I took a long shower - great shower here, private in our own room - put my ear plugs in and tuned out.

"In hoc signo vinces - In this sign thou shall conquer." 
- Knights Templar

Day 32 - slept in Arzua - July 29

Woke up at 7am, out by 8am, it was a beautiful morning. Dee and I had our morning coffee, tea and pastries and headed to destination: Arzua. Her book said we would cross six shallow river valleys and mostly be on natural pathways through the woodland. We ventured out and meandered through classic pilgrim villages, with ancient crosses and large, stone-and-wooden ornate chicken pens. It was incredibly beautiful, I love the chicken pens :) The pictures speak for the beauty I saw... and here is a video of local Spanish chickens by their fancy digs, a Galician chicken pen!

All the way today we crossed shallow river valleys and during the final phase it got really tough. Someone spray painted "Ultreya!" which means "go forth with courage." The path was through a shaded forest of all kinds of trees - oak, chestnut, pine, and a lot of eucalyptus. Dee and I had long lost each other and I thought about what we said at the beginning of the Camino, how we like it that we're all out here alone, together. I continued through the town of Melide, about half-way, famous for it's octopus (pulpo Galega) and through Ribadiso to Arzua. As usual, the last three kilometers were straight uphill, not a huge hill but a big hill, one you don't notice if you're driving, but one that is brute force when you're a pilgrim. And then the heavens parted and there was Dee, waiting for me at one of the "chairs and umbrellas." We tried the octopus and it wasn't that bad, but we couldn't imagine eating an entire plate of it. The people there were loving it, it was loud and busy inside, full of locals and these new 'city pilgrims' and Dee and I just wanted to sit outside. But talk about the effort to get service. France in the 80's. The bargirl would just huff and puff at me, the owner just kept chopping up octopus until he final told the waiter to serve us outside. It was like the whole place was on drugs. It was better that Dee stayed outside or she would've torn into that bar chick.

We ordered wine with the waiter and she ordered a meal and he brought us the traditional cups they use to drink it there. Unfortunately the wine was unpalatable, it was a flabby, chalky, stemmy, peasant wine and so I had the pleasure of going back inside and asking the waiter to please bring us a bottle of good wine. "Mencia?" he asked. "Si" I said. He exchanged it no problemo and that's how I learned to ask for a proper bottle of wine. It's also when I realized that some things make the Spanish freak out and go on and on, and other things they are totally cool with. I also learned that to get a full glass of wine, instead of a flimsy one-third many servers pour, is to ask for vino tinto assi (pronounced: ah-see) and while you're saying it, make the motion of a fuller glass with your fingers. Then they only charge you 50 cents more and you have a full glass :) We learned that one early one and we were pretty proud of ourselves.  Dee texted with Anna, who had now gotten word on a new apartment she would be moving into when she returned home! I realized I may not get to see her again. She hadn't bused since Najera and she was still several legs behind. "One never knows" I thought, because I really like Anna and I really wanted to see her again.

We found a darling hotel with the most magnificent view. Showers and comfy clothes on, 26 kilometers under our belts, we drank wine and talked and laughed and smoked like two college girls having so much fun. She's a Professor in Ireland at a University in the Information Technology Department specializing in Web Programs and Social Media. She told me she had heard of NetLingo when we met on the second day. She had another guy heading into town to possibly meet her in Santiago; I had told her about my dating sagas. There was loads to discuss!!

"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better or happier." 
- Mother Theresa