Villafranca to La Faba:
This was a very difficult day of walking as most of it was straight up and on tarmac. We find this surface, and concrete, much more challenging on the body than the natural elements ... like good ´ol dirt! As such, I was able to stop part way up the mountain and soak my feet in a mountain stream ... as a runner this is also known as CWT (Cold Water Therapy) and was certainly the best medicine! Still, we found that the afternoon sun was too intense to continue on for the last 5 kms of our planned itinerary and so we stopped in the tiny village of La Faba. God has an amazing way to bring blessing out of even a change of plans ...
Tonight we went to a prayer service in a 12th Century church that was in the same yard as our albergue. It was conducted by a Franciscan Monk (who reminded me so much of my sister Mary´s cookie jar ´Brother Cookie!´) [Sure wish I had taken a still photo, as I can't seem to get my videos to upload.];The entire service was very sincere and meaningful; naturally, the translation into English by the German hospitalier was especially helpful.
We sang Amazing Grace in English and passed a clay oil lamp throughout the hands of the various congregants and individuals were invited to pray silently or aloud as they held the candle. The scripture was read from Matthew, on the importance of salt retaining it´s flavour and how we must let our light (the light of God) shine through us to others. I read aloud the English translation. This was followed by a foot washing cermemony with five different nationalities taking part; the brother washing the first set of feet and then each person washing the feet of the person next to them. We ended by holding hands in a circle around the alter and singing ´He´s Got the Whole World In His Hands´, in our native languages. Very special indeed and a fine way to end the day before retiring to our beds which were in a stone outbuilding with a baby bird nest sharing our space. Fortunately, the mommy bird stopped feeding the babies throughout the night and all was quiet except for the snoring of the perigrinos.
Thursday, June 3rd, La Faba to Triacastela
It was an absolutely beautiful morning. The weather was perfect for climbing a steep and high mountain to O´Cebreiro. The views were amazing and the Valcarce Valley lush and green. There is no way for my camera to capture the experience in its entirety.
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| Look at those toned calves! |
"In O Cebreiro, all roads lead to the village church. Founded in the year 836, Santa María la Real (Royal St. Mary’s) is supposedly the oldest church on the entire French Road of the Camino de Santiago. The interior of this pre-Romanesque building is surprisingly spacious, but very simple. The building is actually embedded into the ground, with sunken floors that added protection against winter storms. At a desk, a clerk stamps pilgrims’ credentials and sells votive candles.
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| A really cool bathroom sink! |
"Perched on a high ridge, the impossibly quaint hobbit hamlet of O Cebreiro welcomes visitors to Galicia — a hilly, damp, green region in northwest Spain that feels vaguely Irish. O Cebreiro is a time-warp to an uncomplicated, almost prehistoric past, when people lived very close to nature, in stone igloos with thatched roofs. With sweeping views across the verdant but harsh Galician landscape, O Cebreiro (pronounced oh theh-BRAY-roh) is constantly pummeled by some of the fiercest weather in Spain."
"To see how local villagers used to live, visit the pallozas. From Celtic times 1,500 years ago, right up until the 1960s, the townspeople of O Cebreiro shacked in these humble, round, stone huts with peaked thatched roofs. Three of the nine surviving pallozas have been turned into a loosely run museum, where visitors can learn about the lifestyles of the people who lived in the huts.
Upon entering a palloza, which typically housed a dozen people (and their animals), you'll find two simple rooms: the only “private” room in the house, belonging to the parents, and a living area around a humble fire. Surrounding the fire are clever benches (which were also used as very hard beds) with pull-down counters so they could double as a table at mealtime. Cooking was done over the fire using a chain hanging from a big beam, while giant black-metal spirals suspended from the ceiling were used to smoke chorizo.
Attached to the living area is a miniature “barn,” where animals lived on the lower level, and people — kept warm by all that livestock body heat — slept on the upper level. Thanks to the ideal insulation provided by the thatch, and the warmth from the fire and animals, it was toasty even through the difficult winter."
As dictated by ancient tradition, the baptistery is separate from the main part of the church, with its giant and very rough font used for immersion baptisms. In the chapel to the right of the main altar is a much-revered 12th-century golden chalice and reliquary, which holds items relating to a local miracle: A peasant from a nearby village braved a fierce winter snowstorm to come to this church for the Eucharist. The priest scoffed at his devotion, only to find that the host and wine had physically turned into the body and blood of Christ, staining the linens beneath them — which are now in the silver box." http://www.ricksteves.com/tms/article.cfm?id=120&extras=false
O´Cebreiro is a 9th Century village with its own legends which bring tourists to this little town in the thousands! However, when all dies down in the winter time it has a population of 12.
Friday, June 4th, Triacastela to Sarria
Another perfect day for walking. We did not journey quite so far today and were here in our albergue by 2 pm. How nice to beat the intense afternoon sun! We are in Galacia now and it is oh so beautiful! In these past two days it has been nothing but lush green valleys and mountains, farm after farm after farm. There are many more evidences of cattle in these parts, in fact the barnyards are intertwined with the little hamlets that we pass through ... it does make for interesting and watchful ´walking.´ Today the walk was supposedly going to be extremely steep and yet for both of us we found it truly pleasant and one of the nicest pathways to tred since we began. Much of our day´s journey took us through country lanes and along rock walls with pasture land which ran alongside the trails. There certainly were up and down aspects to the route;however, it seems that it wasn´t that intense. Perhaps we are just that much more capable of handling it?
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| The most pristine albergue we saw! |
We are staying in a very nice albergue in a town of 12,000 tonight. As with all of the other towns there is much history here also. In fact we found a wonderful store this afternoon (after doing our daily showering, laundry, etc) that was exclusively for those about to or in the process of taking on the Camino. It was fun to experience such a thing.
Will write more when time permits. Again, as always sending our love from Spain!
