Today (or as Sarah labeled it… “our last Monday on the Camino”) we walked 28Km and gained 3100 feet of elevation. It was a challenging day physically….but the beautiful scenery and the start of the final stage of the trip made it very rewarding.
We entered the 4th and last province of our Spanish adventure. After starting in the region of Navarre, moving into La Rioja, and traversing Leon and Castille, we are now in Galicia.
Galicia makes a big impression on you right away…
In the mountaintop village of O Cebreira, we were immediately struck by the Celtic roots of the place. The thatched-roof structures, the bagpipe-infused music and Celtic crosses in the church made us feel…like…we need a serious pint of Guinness!
As we continued on…the place had an aggressive agrarian feel to it…lots of moving cattle…lots of tractors plowing fields…horses running through the streets. WHAT…you say? A guy walked by with 4 horses – 2 on a rope and 2 untethered horses following a ways behind. I barely got the camera out in time as the last 2 horses nonchalantly walked the streets unescorted, following their master. Take a look. I can’t even get our schnauzer Andy to follow me into the living room from the kitchen.
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Finally, the folks in Galicia appear to take a much more obsessive-compulsive approach to managing the Camino than the other regions. Every marker now contains the exact distance (to the meter!) until we reach Santiago de Compostela. This initially struck us as a nice data addition. Then we soon realized it is not such a good thing…as we now stop to check every marker…calculate the distance since the last marker…compare it to my GPS watch measurement…determine our pace per kilometer…calibrate it versus our e-guide book…
Although it was a busy day…we did take a couple of breaks to talk to other pilgrims and make some new friends. We had dinner with 2 couples from Ireland and South Africa…both guys are marathon runners (with better times…arrrgh). The couple from Ireland mentioned that there is a Camino path that originates at St. James Church in Dublin! See the additional new friend Sarah made in this video.
Dear pilgrim friends, the truth is that we are already counting the days for our desired reunion, at the end of your precious and magnificent journey. See you very very soon.
We feel the same!
I have been thinking about Andy , where is he? I am not sure how hard it is to imbed the videos but I have really enjoyed watching them, please continue to share them.
With Amy in New York. Keeping the couch warm for me.
Love your selfie! The view behind you is amazing! Sarah, what a cute furry friend! I hope Andy doesn’t mind your new acquaintance though… 🙂