Stage 29: O Cebreiro to Triacastela, 22 kms, 5 hrs, Sunshine! 24C

Buen Vistas!!

Today was a bit of a surprise. We expected to see rain this morning...didn't. Then we expected the walk today to be all downhill...wasn't. 

Pretty hard to get up too early in our comfy mountain outpost, so we set the alarm for 7:15 and 'slept in'. I know...not much, but on this type of travel there isn't very much sleeping in. The bars jam up quite quickly with everyone scrambling to get their breakfast and then on the road as quickly as possible...so few lounge about in the mornings. 

Lots of climbing and we started off into heavy cloud...not above us, but all around us. It was actually a very tranquil feeling...though with a pack on your back you don't exactly float! The clouds began to blow away as we walked along a trail with a steep fall-away and the world began to open up for us. It took a while, but the sun finally showed itself...with stunning results.

As said, lots of ups and downs as we descended 2,500'. 

The clouds continued to swirl around us making for just beautiful moments...

Along the way we discovered one of the new road hazards available to the peregrinos in Galicia...cows and more importantly, cow pies! I made a short movie featuring some apparently very well known local cows as they meandered down the trial, big horns and all, in our general direction. With no place to go we scrambled up on the side of the path and let the celebrities pass by. If you're wondering how I figured out their celebrity status, well their agent gave me a good talking to including a finger wagging as he passed. Presumably he was trying to make a serous point about not taking photos of his precious cattle! The paparazzi get in trouble again...just trying to do my job mate! Of course my Spanish is pretty good if you want me to order a beer and something to eat, or if you want me to count to thirty. However quite dreadful if you want me to understand much else...any way he seemed pretty satisfied to say to me what ever it was that he said!? We both parted happy...he with verbal satisfaction...me with my photos and a movie;)

A few more photos of the scenery today. 

We are in a small 'valley' village tonight staying in a pension/auberge, meaning that there are bunk beds in much of the facility and a couple of double rooms. Will let you guess which we are in. Pretty basic, but the price is cheap, the place is clean and there should be a bar with our names on a couple of cold beer quite close by! On our way to check this out...NOW!!

Buen Camino!!

And from Annemarie...more about today...

Today

A while back I wrote a verse indicating that it just gets better

That was about a great experience we had when the weather was wetter

There have been days when we were just trying to get from A to B

This was particularly true when my toe was bothering me

But today I again felt this experience just keeps improving

This feeling came to me repeatedly as along mountain tracks we were moving

The weather cleared, and the sun shone throughout the day

The temperature was perfect, neither hot nor cold all the way

But it was the vistas that left their mark

As around each bend we would again remark

Many pictures were taken to attempt to capture the beauty

Even my camera came out of it's case quite frequently

Days like this lift the spirit, even when the terrain is strenuous 

There were climbs and descents, quite numerous

The pictures we took may or may not match those in our minds eye

We will look back on this day and the joy it brought; the memory will probably elicit a sigh