Camino del Norte
Day 26/27
Sept 28,29
Hola,
Yesterday was a great day…we were in a wonderful new and still-under-construction albergue where we sat on the sundeck and enjoyed drinks and snacks with our friend Gregory from Budapest and Manuela from Argentina. We did our washing earlier and everything dried in the sunshine.
The restaurant didn’t open until 8:00 and shortly before that time the dark clouds moved in with blustery wind and thunder coming closer. Suddenly the skies opened and the rain came down in sheets, lightning and thunder during our meal before the power went out and the place was in darkness except for the emergency lighting in the restaurant. The kitchen was dark as were the bathrooms and the sleeping areas.
When we got underway before dawn yesterday the sky was completely clear and our world was fresh from last nights deluge.
We started with our one headlamp and walked into the forest pathways. First we climbed up into the hills and had a commanding vista of the sunrise over the valley encased in clouds below. We then descended into that fog and walked through the woods and past old stone farm buildings and along the endless stone fences guarding either side of the trail. We met our friend Joachim again as well as Manuela. It was cool and easy walking in the valley..the sun began to warm when we arrived at the town of Castroverde. We soon reached the municipal albergue and settled in with our usual routine…a shower, hand wash t-shirt, socks and underwear to hang in the sun, a nap then a wander into the little town.
We had the package of pasta that I had been carrying for 2 days so we bought sauce, olives and seafood for Donna to prepare a great dinner in the one pot that the kitchen provided. No cutlery, 3 bowls and a few mugs but we managed. We had a bottle of red and enough pasta to share with our friend Igor from Moscow.
We left the doors and windows open and it was a cold night..we have only our silk sleeping bag liners plus a thin fleece blanket, I put my sweater on sometime in the night and was still cold.
A quick coffee/ tea in the morning and we were among the last to leave at 7:40 this morning.
We still travel alongside the Italian foursome plus the French couple, our Hungarian guy, the Argentina girl, Igor from Moscow and a few new strangers. Our German friend splurged last night on a room in a pension while we opted for the 6€ bunk.
Today we walked in the low country and were in the ground fog all morning. We caught up with Manuela the Argentinian and walked together through mostly forest until the approach into Lugo. We walked 20km with only a bathroom stop…into the city of Lugo by noon.
Lugo is a big city with about 100,000 citizens. Famous for the intact Romain fortified wall encircling the entire core. Another good municipal albergue for 6€ located inside the wall in the heart of town.
Today was the day my cell phone plan expired… one month since we left Madrid… I had to find the Vodaphone store to renew. The store 3 minutes away closes at 2:00 pm on Saturday and we were turned away at 1:45. The only other outlet was a 25 minute walk to the mall on the edge of town and downhill. Got the phone renewed…25€ for 1 month with 3.5G data and more.
After our nap Donna and I walked around the top of the Roman wall…most impressive as it takes some 40 minutes to walk once around.
We found a group of our Camino friends listening to the DJ at a cafe near our bed, loud music as a warmup for the live band to come later. There we connected again with the Mexican girl, the German camper guy León plus Joachim and others. Our Danish guy who we lost a few days back when he decided to join the Dutch violin playing girl and camp out on the highest mountain top of the Hospitale. There they shared her pup tent and remain inseparable now.
The 4 of us left the loud music to have dinner together in the Plaza Mayor in front of the Cathedral. They left for their fancy hotel room and we are now settled into our bunks listening to the music and talking in the streets outside.
Lights out at 10:00 and tomorrow is another day on the Way.
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