Ribadeo to Lourenzā, Spain

This morning started out cold!! I had a lightweight tshirt, lightweight long sleeve, and lightweight jacket on..it’s all about the layering, and of course choosing lightweight technical clothing. Oddly enough, as much as I get hot quickly, always have, I kept both sleeves on longer than I have yet on any Camino. The weather is changing for sure, however heating up to mid 70’s by afternoon, which can be very hot in direct sun. I am loving the change. We had a good climb about 12k into our walk that went up to about 400 meters. Didn’t pass through a town with a cafe that was open until 20k in. We anticipated this and packed food with us. Partway up the mountain we came across a couple benches with great views, sat on our ponchos (grass was wet, benches were tiny) and had a nice break and some food to give us the energy to get us through the last half. It was a peaceful walk today, not a lot of people on the trail, we probably came across 15-20. We hiked almost 18 miles. The views were incredible, as usual, but we didn’t have the dirt paths much today except for about 30% of the hike. We passed through hundreds of acres of corn crops and farmland with cows and horses. I love this scenery, everything is still so green and fresh. We said goodbye to the coast today and are working our way inland. The forests are always nice, offering shade and opportunities to take a break. Holly and I made a deal that we would stop every few hours to be nice to our feet and bodies. We have done days where we kept grinding, didn’t drink enough water, didn’t take enough breaks, and paid for it. My leg/shin pain did pretty good. I dosed up on ibuprofen this morning and on a break. I also bought some Voltaren gel yesterday, only €10. Voltaren gel is the bomb. I recall my first trip here in 2013 it was available only by prescription in the States and here I could walk into any pharmacy and buy it over the counter, a big tube, for €15. It was sold by prescription only at that time for about $100+ back home. So, it was nice to be in a foreign country and the get medicine I needed at an affordable price and not need to pay for a Dr visit. Yesterday we were talking to a retired dual citizen (Poland/USA), and his US Medicare is more valuable and cheaper for him in Spain than in the US. How in the heck is that? Why? Don’t want socialized medicine, but I think we can do better than we are doing for our retirees and elderly. A lot better. Ok I’ll get off my soapbox. Just find it interesting when we are usually the country doing the R&D and yet we pay 10 times more. 🤷🏻‍♀️
Our laundry just finished in the wash but the dryer doesn’t work at the albergue so we have it hung on the line drying. We are staying in an albergue tonight, but have a private room, actually a little apartment with a kitchenette, living room, private bathroom, and our own patio area, it’s pretty cool. It’s $32 each!! $25 for a bunk bed and shared bathroom…again, so much cheaper traveling with someone else who can split the price of a private room. Plus, when you’re on the road as long as we are, sharing living space with strangers and getting limited sleep is wearing on an already exhausted body. I think this rest and privacy is really helping us keep going.
Cute town we are in, but the main attraction is an incredible church. It doesn’t fit in this town though. I’ve noticed some of the most beautiful churches in the most run down villages, it’s really a surprise and so amazing to me. When we visited, it was open! And they had a stamp! Only the 2nd church on this Camino that I have found open WITH a stamp. We collect stamps every day showing where we have stayed or visited and at the end we show it to the pilgrims office and are issued a Compostela certificate and a distance certificate.
We found a grocery store, stocked up on what we are having for lunch tomorrow (not taking the chance that something will be open), and found a bar for dinner. I had a great burger, which is always, for some reason, hard for me to find in Spain. I even got some Padron peppers. It is said that only like 1 in 100 are supposed to be hot..my plate of 12 had 2 hot ones before I decided to not eat the seeds! I don’t think they were true Padron peppers, Padron peppers come from Padron, they are protective of their seeds, and I’ve never had but one hot one out of at least 100 I’ve eaten!
Tomorrow is another big day, time to slather the Voltaren cream and hit the hay! Buenas noches amigos y familiares. Te amo.Read more