A few random photos from last evening and our walk today. After a zero day yesterday I was up early and waking up on my training bike to make sure my legs still worked. Apparently they still did, so after breakfast we walked in winds ranging from 30-45 kph. Not too bad, but when we were out of the sun it felt cool in our lights shirts and shorts.
Another interesting sunset last night. I took a short series of photos as the sky was lite up from end to end in all directions. It was really quite nice.
Much later the moon poked through a hole in the heavy cloud cover, distorted by a strip of cloud. If you look closely down and to the right I think that's Venus showing. The hole closed very quickly, but it was kind of cool to catch that moment.
These flowers are our all over town. The latest in the parade of colour that breaks out in our SW coast of BC each spring.
We watched the Parks folks a couple of days ago again tying up the swings. Looks like they went to town!
A few days ago I noticed that on a No Exit sign we saw a small walker symbol. For 28 years I've walked, ridden and driven past this sign at the end of our street without noticing the little guy walking along. I'm not the only one to miss it as I've watched countless folks walk up our street before turning around after concluding that there's no way through. There is.
On our virtual camino we had a decision in front of us. Take the longer southern route via the Monasterio de Samos or the more northerly route via San Xil? I've walked both; the Samos option in 2013 and the other option in 2018. I liked each way, though the Samos route seems to go on and on particularly after Samos. The San Xil variant starts with a stiff climb, but is a bit more direct and the climb provides the walker with some nice views back towards yesterdays mountains as well as decent views forward. Both routes end up in Sarria which is after all the goal. In 2018, being ill, I was on a bit of a mission to complete our Camino For Alzheimer's Awareness, and I ended up walking some 43 kms to Portomarin after discovering that the albergue in Mercadoiro where I had booked a bed online was closed for the season. Yup, after 36 kms that was indeed a surprise! These things happen, so all you can do is just walk on to the next bed.
We again joined up with Ken at Samos so for the purposes of our virtual camino we will go that way. It's a nice walk and this will give me a chance to relive this experience some 7 years on. Besides, it was much warmer with sunshine in 2013. A nice way to remember a walk. For me it's about the weather. I'll take a hot sunny day any time.
We were well away before sunrise. What we didn't know until we caught up in Samos was that Ken had departed much earlier. But then, he got lost in the dark around San Cristobal do Real where the church is below.
Somewhat strangely Lastres isn't in my map book and I remember commenting to Annemarie at the time. I clearly took this photo for the other signage. Good plan.
There is lots of this sort of path on the Samos route. Really nice walking along back roads with the trees overhead as you often pass by steep earthen walls or the frequent moss covered hand made Galician stone fences. A favourite memory.
The trees are brilliant to walk past and under!
I think we can all agree that these types of surfaces aren't our favourite to walk on.
Hard on the feet and knees which is why Annemarie was taking her time.
The slate layered roofs of Galicia are now almost everywhere.
I think we can all agree that these types of surfaces aren't our favourite to walk on.
Hard on the feet and knees which is why Annemarie was taking her time.
The slate layered roofs of Galicia are now almost everywhere.
With Halloween less than 2 weeks away it was strange to think at this point that we would be home in time for the celebration. However, at the start of the day we are just 137 kilometres from Santiago.
Annemarie was walking really nicely by this point. Her foot wasn't hurting and she was enjoying herself.
It's not really very far to Samos. Just over two hours and the monasterio is suddenly just below. I remember being surprised by just how suddenly it shows up. A wonderful sight from above.
Down another small country road,
and we arrive.
As I said we bumped into Ken when we arrived. He seemed to us to be kind of down and out of sorts that morning. We stopped to chat and we remember him seeming to cheer up at our meeting. We invited him to join us to tour the monastery and then walk on to Sarria, but he had already visited. He did say that he would wait for us so that we could walk on together which worked out splendidly. The monastery is only open at specific times when a monk is available to lead small groups through. We had to wait a short period for the next tour and we took the time to look around.
It's beautifully situated and we were really impressed with the place. So impressed that we've decided to stay the night in the monastery! A virtual stop. I'm not sure if Sarah and Neil walked this way, but for the purposes of our virtual camino we will assume they did and all stay here together.
Those are our rooms in the left tower.
The front door where the monk met our small group of pilgrims.
Of course St. James made an appearance.
We were each assigned a cell. I think our friends Neville and Julie stayed here in 2010 and Neville told me that the rooms were so damp, moldy and cold that they froze that night. They wore all their clothes inside their sleeping bags. We didn't want a repeat of their experience so we made sure to ask for cells with a heater and a fireplace. "No problem" was the cheerful reply. This was Ken's cell. That's Ken on the left reading.
This was Neil and Sarah's cell. Seems appropriate.
And this was our cell. Apparently a good place to write the blog.
We all went out for cold drinks to celebrate our short day before being treated to a fantastic meal at the monastery!
Where will we walk to next?
Buen Camino!
Down another small country road,
and we arrive.
As I said we bumped into Ken when we arrived. He seemed to us to be kind of down and out of sorts that morning. We stopped to chat and we remember him seeming to cheer up at our meeting. We invited him to join us to tour the monastery and then walk on to Sarria, but he had already visited. He did say that he would wait for us so that we could walk on together which worked out splendidly. The monastery is only open at specific times when a monk is available to lead small groups through. We had to wait a short period for the next tour and we took the time to look around.
It's beautifully situated and we were really impressed with the place. So impressed that we've decided to stay the night in the monastery! A virtual stop. I'm not sure if Sarah and Neil walked this way, but for the purposes of our virtual camino we will assume they did and all stay here together.
Those are our rooms in the left tower.
The front door where the monk met our small group of pilgrims.
Of course St. James made an appearance.
We were each assigned a cell. I think our friends Neville and Julie stayed here in 2010 and Neville told me that the rooms were so damp, moldy and cold that they froze that night. They wore all their clothes inside their sleeping bags. We didn't want a repeat of their experience so we made sure to ask for cells with a heater and a fireplace. "No problem" was the cheerful reply. This was Ken's cell. That's Ken on the left reading.
This was Neil and Sarah's cell. Seems appropriate.
And this was our cell. Apparently a good place to write the blog.
We all went out for cold drinks to celebrate our short day before being treated to a fantastic meal at the monastery!
Where will we walk to next?
Buen Camino!
