Cathleen's feet felt somewhat better, and she contemplated walking today. She commented that her toes were much better, but her heels were still sore. I mentioned that I didn't work on her heels last night, when I did Reiki on her, and she made the connection: "I didn't let you work on my heels, but that's what I'm doing this trip for: healing!"
I reminded her that she had promised herself that she would take a rest day no matter how her feet felt in the morning, and how promises to oneself are actually important. The hotel owner called her a cab. Another pilgrim was taxi-ing to Fonsgrada as well, so they could split the bill at 14€ each.
She bemoaned not bring able to get her stamps for the day, and missing the Celtic ruins. "My lack of stamps will show where I took a day off." She mused that she could do some meditation on her "day off," since she had done none so far on the trip. I hoped that she would also start doing some writing.
I still had no luck connecting to Sophie through text message. My texts to her just would not send over the last couple days. I had been trying since July 9, because that was when she took a ride ahead, and Cathleen and I were deciding between stopping Berduceo or La Mesa. She wanted know which, so she could rejoin us. But none of my messages would go through. Cat checked Sophie's Facebook account and there had been no activity there for a couple of days either. We wondered if she had managed lose her phone too (if you haven't been reading my other posts: Sophie had lost several of her belongings on various days), and hoped she was ok.
I left town 10:05am. Turning on my HERE maps, I noticed that I had skipped from "map 4" to "map 6"! I had not made a "map 5," even though my pinned route continued directly from map 4 to map 6. It seemed more than coincidental, that I had also "missed a day" the very same day Cathleen was taking her day off. ;)
Passing the church, I noticed a sign that at the 1pm mass yesterday, pilgrims could kiss the relics. I had held out a hope that we would make the mass yesterday, and we were pretty much on track, but when Cathleen needed a 2+ hour break at Hotel Grandas for lunch, I knew we wouldn't make it. It was interesting to note that every other day of the week, mass was at 7pm.
The weather was overcast, and 9-16 degrees, and I waz glad, because I had a long 25km hike ahead of me.
I stopped in at a little shop, Bar Casa Federico, on the side the highway in Cerejeira and had my first "no toca las frutas" experience. Luckily, I had already read about the phenomenon and guessed what the sign meant. I didn't touch the fruit, but rather pointed to what I wanted. I bought a nectarine and a banana, and got a pretty sello/stamp in my Camino passport. A few metres later was Bar La Parilla, but I didn't stop. Eating my banana, I felt normal for the first time that day.
Just past Cerejeira, the path went through farmer's fields, and a man in a tractor waved me back a couple meters where the path made a sudden left turn in the fields. I had missed the sign, although if you look closely, it showed in my photo. Lol.
Arriving at Castro at 11:30am, I thought I would be in a perfect position to visit the museum, which was only supposed to be open 11am-12pm, then it closed for a tour at 12pm, before opening again at 4pm.
Well, no, it was closed. Which I only discovered after walking all the way up the hill to it. But from the hill, I could see the ruins of Chao Sanmartin below, to the West of town. After much running around trying to find the access road, I got to its gate, which was also bolted shut. Time to return to my Camino. I thought of Cathleen really wanting to see these ruins, and laughed to myself that she wouldn't have seen much of them anyhow. Plus, to see then would have required even more running around than she wanted.
Although it was more difficult to blog, take photos, and pin my maps while I was walking at my own pace (rather than the slower pace I had been doing with Cathleen), I did notice how doing those things kept me engaged with my environment. It seemed that every time I put my phone away, is when I'd miss a turn. I'd just go into my own thoughts and walk, without noticing my surroundings.
Passing Xestoselo, a sign promised petroglyphs a little more than 2 km off route, but after my failure at Castro today, I just didn't feel up for the detour.
Just before Peñafuente, I played the guessing game with the upcoming mountain and valley. Over or around? Over. :p
At exactly 1pm, I rolled into Peñafuente, found the first fountain of the day, and took a load off at the 17th century church, Iglesias de Santa Maria Magdalena de Peñefuente.
Heading out of town was confusing, but fortunately I had HERE maps to navigate it. I made an arrow for other travelers.
The path kept going up and up. If I could just make it to El Acebo, I told myself, it should be smooth sailing after that.
At the crest, which is at about 1100m in elevation, I looked around and it seemed I was looking across (not up) at the other mountaintops.
I stopped to eat my nectarine. It was so perfectly ripe that I had to bend over, lest the juices ran all over me. (And that's why no tocar las frutas!)
It actually got a little chilly at the top. I was glad for the overcast, as most of my route thus far had been open and exposed.
I passed the marker line entering Galacia then the path headed downhill. Just to be confusing, the shell trail markers in Galacia face the opposite direction than in Asturias.
The "town" of O Acebo appeared to be little more than one white building, a Bar sporting a "closed" south on the door and a cheeky poster in the window: "We open when we arrive, we close when we leave; if we're not here when you come, it's not a coincidence!" Disappointed that I wouldn't get a stamp, I continued on.
I worked on Trust throughout the day as I walked. Trusting the universe, and myself, integrating and/or releasing things that blocked me from it.
I encountered not a single other pilgrim, which was surprising considering the numbers near Grandas de Salime. Did they all taxi to Fonsagrada??
At 3:33pm I arrived in Fontfría, which means "cold water fountain," and it was! The second fountain of the day, and it was icy. I tucked my now-full bottle under my arms to cool off.
Seeing a town on the crest in the distance, I hoped it wasn't Fonsagrada. It looked far. (Spoiler: Oh, you know it turned out to be Fonsagrada!)
At precisely 4pm, my beer was hitting the table at Catro Ventos Bar in Barbeitos. I had a monstrous bocadilla, made fresh to order, and watched Hawaii 5-0 dubbed in Spanish. I used the wifi to contact Cathleen, who had checked into our hotel, bought some new walking shoes (a full size bigger), and gotten her supper paid for by some Mexican peregrinos we had met a few times on the trail. She was a little tipsy, and heading back to the bar. I hoped she had managed to do some self care during the day.
Just outside Barbeitos, where the Camino crossed the highway, I got to pet the cutest little Yorkie. On the other side of the highway was a shelter with vending machines selling all manner of pilgrim supplies, except the one I really needed, which was bug spray. I bought a pocket knife for 2€.
Ever since entering Galacia, butterflies had accompanied me, flying alongside me, and getting very animated whenever I jogged. (I did my little "sit down" jog on a few downhill stretches to protect my toes.)
Walking the last 6km into Fonsagrada was hard, especially after the sun came out. I chose to take the highway for the last few kilometers, because I was tired of the trail going up and down beside the road.
As I approached town, a car beeped and waved, then a group of women stopped me and asked if I was "the other chica"... another girl was looking for me. Finally, in front of the hotel, two guys asked if I was looking for Cathy. I said yes, and turned the corner to see Cathleen standing outside. As the church bells rang 6 pm, I wasn't sure what all the fuss was about. I had told Cathleen at 4:30 pm that I was in Barbeitos finishing my food, then had about 5 km (it turned out to be just over 6 km) to go, which would take me about an hour to walk. I felt I was right on time!
Our room was amazing!! Hardwood floors, antique desk and armoir, fresh flowers, gift packets in the washroom. "Did they give us the honeymoon suite?" joked Cathleen. The views out the window showed where I had just walked.
I lay on the bed quite a while, unwilling to move. Cathleen had seen Sophie on the side of the road as she was leaving Grandas de Salime in her taxi. They were able to have a quick conversation. Sophie was still trying to fix her bank card situation, and one of her tick bites had developed a bulls-eye rash. She was headed to the doctor.
http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html
Apparently, there were 6 people in her taxi, and another taxi behind her. Due to the numbers, she only end up paying 7€ for the ride.
I finally figured out why my texts to Sophie did not go through: I think Sam and Christian had used up a bunch of my talk/text plan calling Oviedo. Since my data plan was a separate add-on, it was not affected. I planned to find an Orange store and top up my talk/text minutes.
Finally we went out for supper. We went back to the place Cathleen had been for lunch, Pulperia Caldeira, which was actually a place I had on my list as a "top restaurant" in this town. I had a different kind of pulpo from the day before. It was fantastic. Cathleen had the same soup we had in Pola de Allende, which was called "Asturian" soup there, but here it was billed as "Gallegan." ;)
Arriving back at our hotel, a big crowd was assembled outside. They pressured us to stay and party at the local bar. Cathleen went; I went to bed. :)
This meal looks divine.
ReplyDeleteI trust the divine mother is with you.