Day 2.18: O Cebreiro to Triacastella (23km/14 miles)

It was tough leaving O Cebreiro. It is a special place and probably one of my favorite on the Camino. It was beautiful weather when I was there and still, when I woke up this morning the wind was howling and it just felt raw when I went outside. It is the first morning I have worn my lightweight puffy jacket.

But, the jacket was off before the first hour was up. I generate massive amounts of heat when I exert energy and that I was doing!  Everyone else was still bundled up two or three hours into walking and I was in my shirt sleeves.

The bulk of the day was spent traversing the spine of the mountain and then at the very end we descended nearly 600 meters – the downhills are always the worst!

There are many pilgrim statues along the way. This one was quite large and stands at the top of Alto San Roque.

Every town, regardless of how small it is, has a church. Most are locked so it isn’t possible to see the inside but the exteriors are beautiful and rugged.

There are lots of these fall crocuses growing wild along the path.

The views throughout the day were beautiful as we walked along a meandering path that often made me feel like I was in Vermont.  

I had only had a really bad packaged pastry when I stopped for coffee around 10 so around noon I stopped for a jamon bocadillo and an Aquarius. As is usually the case, I ate half the sandwich and took the other half to go.

Ray, my ever-present virtual tour guide tipped me off that I would be coming to the smallest church on the Camino in Biduedo right before the decent. It indeed is tiny, but from the looks inside (I had to take picture through a grated window since it was locked) it could still be actively used.

The downhill was far from the worst and the views were spectacular. I could stop taking pictures.

How could I pass up the “best apple tart on the Camino?”

I haven’t had many pastries on the Camino, but as they go, I have to say this is the best I have had. First, it was homemade, a stark contrast to the horrible chocolate covered packaged thing I had for breakfast. But that isn’t a fair comparison. The apple tarte is in a completely different category. It is food with integrity. With the coffee it provided the perfect fuel to get me into Triacastella where I would be staying for the night.

I finally arrived in Triacastella shortly after 3. Then I had to climb up the hill to Casa Olga where Olga was out on the street waiting for me. The sheep helped guide me to her house.

Olga gave me a beer when I got into her pension. Boy that hit the spot!

I took a short nap and headed back down the hill for dinner. I had an OK pilgrim menu and was entertained by three cats as I ate (for many people, I know this would be a huge turn off!).

Dinner was unremarkable, but dessert was delicious. It was some of the fresh O Cebreiro cheese with membreillo and honey.

The Mystery Bus

Several times throughout the day a huge “tourisimo” coach bus was sitting as I completed a section of the trail. I believe this is the same group of Canadian “Peregrinos” who we saw a few days ago. In order to provide exposure to the Camino without overtaxing the guests, travel company’s run what I will call “Taste of Pilgrimage” tours. I have seen the bus stop are key points, drop off a load of pilgrims and then pick them up 5-6 kilometers later.

I checked out the local church on my way back to Olga’s  instead of the cemetery being in a separate part of town, it is right at the church. Another surprise is that all of the burial sites are above ground as you would see in New Orleans

Reflections: A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall

It was inevitable; I could not escape the Camino without some rain stories. For the past week rain has been in the forecast for Sunday and here we are in Saturday night.

I will be honest, I am shipping my little day pack ahead to Sarria where I will be tomorrow night. This plan reduces the weight of my pack a little and also hopefully provides me with dry clothes at the end of the day.

I haven’t been able to train much in the rain so this is new territory for me. Some Pilgrims actually say they enjoy walking in the rain. I am hoping that will happen for me!