Homer's Travels: Camino De Santiago - O Cebreiro To Triacastela

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Camino De Santiago - O Cebreiro To Triacastela

Seven days to go.  I don't think it was hitting me yet.  Santiago de Compostela was only seven days away.  At this point it still felt like it would go on forever ... something part of me would have welcome.

The day was a short one.  It could have been a long one if I'd gone to Samos.  The Samos albergue is located in a 6th century monastery.  Reaching it would have made this day too long.  Instead GV and I decided to stop in the town of Triacastela.

I left O Cebreio on a chilly morning and marveled at the sights.  As I was putting on my boots I noticed the priest who had given mass the night before (the one GV and I ditched).  He was walking the Camino.  Soon after leaving it began to drizzle lightly.  Fortunately it didn't last long -  just long enough to get my jacket and pack cover on.  A few minutes later it stopped and the jacket and pack cover came back off - I sweat too much with my jacket on ... and I can't get to my principe cookies (or the arthurs I was carrying this day) with the pack cover on.

I reached Alto de Poio (which roughly translates to Chicken Heights) and stopped to admire the views yet again.  From here to Triacastela the Camino headed down.  This was the last of the Camino's  mountainous parts.  I pulled out the arthur cookies and ate a few.  For the next few miles I compared Oreos, Principes, and Arthurs.  I decided that the main difference was the playability of the cookies.  The principes tasted better than the arthurs but their cookies were more crumbly so it was hard to pull them apart than the arthurs.  Oreos had the highest playability as they could easily be pulled apart allowing the frosting to be licked.  Arthurs came in second.  Principes came in third.  Despite this, I think I preferred the principes - they tasted better and were larger that Oreos.  I put a lot of thought into this. I really did.

I was walking through the town of Fonfría when I saw ... the Japanese television crew.  The camera man was pointing his camera at the door of an albergue.  I slowed down as I approached but they waved me forward smiling.  Right when my butt was in front of the camera the Starlet stepped out of the albergue saying "Muchas Gracias!"  HA!  I think I ruined their shot.  I didn't stop to see if they re-shot it or just used what they got.

I reached Triacastela and found the Xunta albergue.  It was very ... underwhelming ... so I found a bar along the Camino near the entrance to town and waited for GV.  She had print outs with albergue reviews.  When she arrived we found a private albergue run by an older couple that had good reviews (Their daughter, son-in-law and two cute little granddaughters were visiting when we checked in).   It was a cozy albergue in an interesting old building.

I did my chores, managing to get all my laundry done, and took a nap.  Naps are something that were rarely skipped along the Camino.  I haven't always mentioned them in this recounting of my Camino but naps were often and always welcome after a morning of walking.

We went out and did a brief tour of the town.  I ran into RE outside a bar and said hello.  GV and I went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  The Montreal Formula 1 races were on the television which made GV happy as you could see the neighborhood where sh lived in some of the shots.  We had a pretty good meal here.  I had my first taste of pulpo (octopus) - thanks GV for sharing and giving me a relatively harmless looking piece. It was okay but not my cup o' tea.


That night I was lying in my bunk thinking about going to sleep.  I was talking to GV, planning out the next day.  Then I went into this monologue about how I was having a great time on the Camino and I compared it with all the great vacations the Wife and I had taken and generally babbling aimlessly.  I stopped talking long enough to realized how quiet it was and looked around.  A German girl and her brother were looking at me with wide smiles.  My ramblings must have been entertaining.  I got up, took a bow and said the show would continue at my next stop, Sarria.

Day twenty-nine turned out to be an easy day.  Interesting vistas. Interesting conversation.  Interesting food.  Interesting adventure.

Total Distance: 12.70 Miles (20.44 km)
Total Time: 4 hours 24 minutes
Total Elevation Up: 2,148 ft ( 654.71 m)
Total Elevation Down: 3,969 ft (1,209.75 m)

[Click on map for a larger version]

2 comments:

  1. I took that long route...Samos was worth it! The route from Triacastella was amazing.

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