Day 34, O Cebreiro to Fonfria

What a difference a day makes! We woke up this morning to find O Cebreiro shrouded in mist with last night’s magnificent views completely obscured by cloud. Even though it had been hard to climb in yesterday’s heat, I was hugely grateful to have seen the village in all its glory. Given its elevation I imagine today’s misty conditions are more common.
We were in no rush to get on the road because we only had a 12km walk so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast at the bar where we’d eaten dinner last night. We tried to pop back into the church before we left but found it locked this morning.
For much of today’s walk the weather was cool and the visibility limited though gradually we got a better peek at the mountains which had been hidden by cloud for much of the morning. The wild flowers on the route seemed more like the vegetation you’d see in England and Ireland, perhaps because the climate here is cooler and wetter than earlier sections of our walk.
We’re staying at an albergue which has been highly recommended by Nick, the vegan chef from Brighton, who we met at Verde. He shares a birthday with me and spent it here (when I was still in Pamplona in my first week of walking). Soon after we arrived, Fiona and I sat out on the terrace with a lovely view of the hills and had a very wholesome bowl of lentil soup with some of the local cheese. The sun is shining but it’s pleasant rather than scorching. The cheese we’re eating is the same variety as the one we ate in such quantities yesterday but we’ve discovered it’s not goats’ cheese - it’s described as raw cows’ cheese and is a local speciality served with honey.
We know a few people who are staying here tonight, including our Canadian friend, Anna, and I’m looking forward to our communal meal this evening.
We have a room to ourselves which does feel like a treat, especially since a couple of our Camino friends have got bed bugs in the last few days in different municipal dormitories. We were thinking the municipal albergue was an essential part of the Camino experience - now I’m not at all sorry to have skipped it.
Dinner was held in a traditional thatched Galician building and was a very enjoyable affair. I sat next to a 78 year old Australian called Paul who described himself as a 10 pound pom although in fact he’d emigrated as a geology graduate to work in the nickel mines. He lives in a remote desert area of Australia north of Perth where his nearest town is 450 kms away. This is his 8th Camino - he always cycles - and he is taking it easy this time. We talked about faith, the Catholic Church, the advantages of life in a remote Australian town and the sale of council houses in UK. It felt very typical of the sort of meaningful conversation you can have with a complete stranger on the Camino.
Before we retired to bed, I used the pharmaceutical vending machine to stock up on moisturiser although impressively, foot treatments and bandages were also available. And finally we got tempted to try the local
Liqueur which is very like Bailey’s but perhaps a bit less sweet (I fear I look like Boris Johnson in the photo recording this moment) before a quick catch up with Anna and off to bed.Read more