As I sit in the dining room of the Hostal Don Suero in Hospital de Órbigo, I look over the ancient bridge where Don Suero conducted his battles in 1434. A number of kids from the town are gathering in the old jousting area. Whilst eating, I glanced up out of curiosity to see what they were up to. It soon becomes apparent that this is a rehearsal for some sort of festival.
Today on the way to Astorga, I took the long way round to meet David at the House of the Gods. I’d heard a lot about David who has been living on the Camino for many years purely to provide food and drink and a place to rest for weary pilgrims. With the number of pilgrims on the track today, I thought I might not get a chance to chat with him, but at least to sit in his open air cantina and soak up some of the energy and generosity that I expected to find, would be a unique experience.
I wanted to make sure that I got to the Cross before big crowds of pilgrims got there. So as breakfast started at 6:30 at the hostel, I was on my way by 6:50. The walk up to the cross from Foncebadon was only about two and a half kilometers and it was a glorious walk in the early morning, with the crisp air, and great views looking back across the way we had come.
After a very pleasant walk up from Foncebadón in chill morning air, I reached the Cruz de Ferro before the main crowds, which was nice. There were a few people there but it wasn’t too noisy. I was already prepared for the fact that the atmosphere around the cross would not be quite like that of a church. When visiting the Cruz de Ferro, you really need to shut out what others are doing around you and perhaps some of the noise.
I just had second my second visit to the physio in Ponferrada. The treatment was excellent, but there’s still a fair bit of pain. I left the clinic with lots of advice on stretching, strapping, medication and how to get myself through the final stages to Santiago. I have to say the medical services that I’ve called upon so far in Spain, mainly farmacias and physios have been absolutely excellent.
Today was a good day for a number of reasons. Last night my brother David, who happened to be in Spain on holiday, dropped in for dinner and stayed the night. That was really cool as we haven’t caught up in a while, and we shot the breeze over a bottle or two of red wine. The walk up to O Cebreiro was really quite good today. Although it took a wrong turning!
I’m just walking along the ridge line from O Cebreiro to Triacastela. As always, walking at this time of the morning is very pleasant, the sun hasn’t risen yet so it’s not too hot, the air is quite cool, and all I can hear is the tweeting of the birds. I almost have the path to myself, because I think a lot of pilgrims left quite early.
Finally I’m within a hundred kilometers of Santiago. I set out from the albergue at about 8 a.m., again, it’s a beautiful day, slightly overcast, which is good, because it won’t be too hot. The first part is through a little valley with a beautiful old church. I paused to reflect a moment. The only sound, the dogs barking across the little valley and a couple of horses in a nearby field.
I’m about 8 kilometers from Portomarin, so I only have another 4 or 5 kilometers to go today. The road has been very busy so far today, but as normal, I’m falling back through the groups of pilgrims until I don’t really see anyone else behind me. This generally means that I’ll have quite a peaceful journey from here.
It’s another sunny day as I’m on the road by 7:45. I’m walking through pine woods to the sound of the birds. But of course there are a few more pilgrims on the road these days. It’s funny how perceptions change in terms of time and distance during these final days. Up until this point, I didn’t really think too much about how long I have been walking, or how far I had walked.
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