We are officially two digit midgets!

Portomarin, Spain
When we scouted the route last night, the Camino took us right to a city staircase that could have been the inspiration for the stairway to heaven song. Ever resourceful, we found a gentler, kinder route that still involved some serious incline to connect with the Camino. After listening to our new Camino friends talk about their experiences with nuns, Mike has a new theory. He thinks that the route was laid out by the nuns of old, to give those pesky pilgrims ample opportunities for penance. Once outside the city we walked through an enchanted forest with moss covered rock walls lining the path, massive ancient chestnut and oak trees as well as the occasional babbling brook. Disappointed that the dim light meant the camera couldn't do it justice, we tried to engrave it in our memories. Even the sounds of the forest are magical. Speaking of sound, we have grown quite accustomed to the quiet footsteps on the path accompanied by sounds of nature and the land, punctuated by the occasional "hola" and "Buen Camino". We were warned that the peace and quiet would go by the wayside once we got to Sarria. Even so, we weren't quite prepared for the "John Wayne rounding up his posse to go get us some Camino" scenario we encountered at breakfast. We downed breakfast as quickly as we could and hit the trail, hoping to stay ahead of the crowd. We skipped over the first hamlet offering coffee and pressed on to Morgade. We ran into Everett, our Dutch friend, who was having a low spell dealing with shin splints and not sure if he would be able to finish the Camino. After exchanging shin splints tips, we added a pep talk geared towards the school administrator that he is. At this point we are within a week of graduating. Even if we have to crawl on our hands and knees to Santiago, we will make it. He laughed, point well taken. Just past Morgade we went by the 100 kilometers to Santiago marker. That makes it official, we are now 2 digit midgets! Since we entered the Galician region, we noticed a change in the markers. All the others gave distance in kilometers, maybe including one decimal point. The Galician markers spell it out in meters. Guess the message is that as we enter the homestretch, we should savor every meter. We finally made it to Portomarin ahead of the projected rain. Good thing too, as the descent to the river before the city was through a long, steep and rocky ravine, payback for having skipped those steps in Sarria no doubt. We crossed a modern bridge into Portomarin, then climbed a few more staircases up to town. Portomarin has been relocated from its original location on the river. Back in the 50-60's, Franco built a dam to create the Belesar reservoir and hydroelectric plant. The original town was soon submerged, so the townspeople disassembled the church and historic buildings, brought them uphill stone by stone, and reassembled them. You have to admire that dedication to preserving history.もっと詳しく