Day 35.

Today we walked 21 kms through a few very small villages before arriving in Triacastela , the town of three castles, but, unfortunately, none remain today. Walking through these farming villages takes me back about 60 years when we had chickens, a few cows, pigs, when one of my grandfathers had a horse and the other had a forge. I’ve seen all of that on today’s walk. As we walk through these villages there is manure everywhere in the streets, and can attest that Spanish manure smells very much like Louisdale manure did 60 years ago.
After yesterday’s 8 km , arduous climb, today’s 21km felt much easier, with much of it downhill; however, the steep downhills require cautious, slower steps to avoid injury. The weather was cool this morning, but our 7:30 departure had us arriving at today’s destination before 1:00 pm. Cathy and I were by ourselves for the first two hours, then we met Luis from Puerto Rico who wasn’t much more than four feet tall, but he was a fast walker and a bit of a social dynamo. We thoroughly enjoyed his company as he shared his family stories, cooking recipes, his exploits travelling the world as an accountant for Coca-Cola, and how his wife rules their house while being a pharmacist with her PhD. He’s the ultimate extrovert - funny, friendly, with loads of energy. Cathy calls him “the little leprechaun “ because he has such a positive attitude, so ready to help anyone. He stayed with us until Triscastela, then after we registered at our hotel, we joined him again for a beer.
Today’s walk had us walking through more gorgeous Spanish farmland. The weather, once again, started cloudy, with some threatening skies, but the sun eventually peered out providing perfect walking conditions.
While Cathy is washing clothes right now, I’m writing this blog. We plan to join Jean Ana Doug and Laurel and Cathy later for dinner. After dinner last night, Cathy and Jean went to the pilgrim’s mass at the church next door. Cathy said there were well over one hundred people there, and the pilgrim’s prayer, at the end was read in seven languages, and Cathy read the English version.Read more