Total ascent today = 919 feet
Cumulative distance = 416.3 miles
Our room last night belonged to a family that rents out the second floor of their home to travelers, while they live on the third floor.
They do not prepare meals, but have an arrangement with a restaurant just down the street. As we were returning from dinner, we noticed this metal sculpture of a peregrino. Much like others we've seen, except for the crank handle sticking out of his chest.
It's one of those machines that flattens a coin and puts an impression of a tourist site on one side! Tacky.
We also stopped by the church site. Not much to see, except the bell tower has a depiction of the three castles that once occupied this area. Hard to see in person, never mind in the photograph.
This morning we were back at the same restaurant...
with a decision to make -Do we take the high road or the low road? The low road has one of the oldest and largest Benedictine monasteries in Spain, but we would spend more time next to a busy road. The higher route meant more uphill hiking over another mountain, but the trail is mostly in the countryside. We opted for the high road.
So off we went, to climb to Alto Riocabo at 2,969 feet.
The first village we came to, San Xili (X replaces J in the Galician language).
One of the day's surprises was here. As we approached what looked like an old church building (cross on the roof), we saw a light in one of the windows and smoke coming out of the chimney.
As we passed the open door, we realized it was an artist's studio. Out here?
We weren't about to carry any artwork, so passed by and kept going up. Again, our iPhone pictures do not show how steep the trails are, but this was some serious climbing.
Our next surprise came about an hour and a half in.
What a really sweet idea -provide the peregrinos with a reflection pool and resting area...
But someone needs to be on charge of the design team. (Later that day we saw a picture of the original paint on the huge 5-ft scallop shell - it was better)
No rest for the weary, still going up.
Close to the top David found a plant he really liked.
I still admire wildflowers (David calls them weeds), and the scenery.
This was probably the most "Steven King" moment of our trip. We are carefully picking our way down a muddy, rocky trail, and at the end of a tree tunneled path we see...
A soda vending machine?! Really. There's a machine and a little sitting area. That's it. I have no idea where the electrical outlet is.
As we hiked through Galicia, David noticed a difference in the construction of their buildings
After passing up a earlier cafe, we finally came to one in Pintin where we had an ensalada mixta (me) and pizza (okay I had a piece too). Same type of village as yesterday. Very agricultural and streets full of manure. As we were eating, the cows were brought by.
Fortunately, no loud explosions as we left. At least not of the gunshot variety. Let's just say David and I had a lot of stuff to clean off our shoes by the end of the day.
Finally, Sarria came into view.
Sarria is the starting point for many peregrinos, because it is just beyond the 100 km delineation to receive the Compestela certificate for walking the Camino de Santiago. From here on out our path will be much more crowded with peregrinos.
As we walked into the outskirts of Sarria, I was struck by the old meeting the (not so) new. Note the rock roof on the barn to the right.
Our path through Sarria was marked by these pavers.
So you've just walked 12 miles, what's a few more steps? The old lady with he grocery bag is doing it. Sarria's streets and steps are as steep and long as anything found in San Francisco.
At the top of the steps, the church, Iglexia de Santa Marnia, has pilgrim murals on the surrounding walls.
Old town Sarria is built up on a hill, overlooking the more modern part of town.
Of course, that means we had to walk up a long way to reach the 13th-century Mosterio de Santa Maria Magdelena, where we ended our hike for today.
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