Sarria to Ferreiros
Trip Start
May 14, 2008
1
8
14
Trip End
May 30, 2008
Ferreiros,
Spain
Friday, May 23, 2008
We gathered for breakfast at 8:30 and were on the camino by 9:15. We left from the casa and walked 5 km into Sarria, the usual launching point for people wanting to undertake the last 100 km in order to earn their "Compostela" certificate. Within 5 minutes the heavens opened up so we all put our rain gear on. I borrowed a big green poncho from Judy, and immediately became "the mini-avocado". Jim is "the banana" as he's wearing a bright yellow raincoat; Tina is "the papaya" in her yellow raincoat, John is "the blueberry" as he's all in blue, and Lynne is "the condom" 'cuz she's wearing a clear plastic raincoat. Brad teasingly said "Oh Lynne, you're so transparent...." Julia is "Mary Poppins" because she's using a red umbrella. The rest don't have a nickname as far as I know.
We made a pit stop at Turismo Informacion to get our passports stamped, and then at a local bar for a pee break ("Never pass up the opportunity to use a bathroom" advises Jack Nicholson in the movie 'The Bucket List' - wise words, indeed!). The rain was letting up, so we carried on to try and take advantage of the break in weather. From then on it was sunny and warm, then drizzly, then torrential, then warm and sunny, then more rain, then thunder, then cloudy....we had it all!
Some of the interesting things we passed today are a big mausoleum with marble crypts, an autopista under construction, a woman leading a blind man along the camino (both with full packs), hay fields taller than I am, huge garden plots that had been freshly planted, wildflowers galore, jersey cows being herded by an elderly woman along the road (she hid her face behind her umbrella when she saw me trying to take her picture), long uphill stretches, mud - lots of mud - and cow pies to carefully avoid, another elderly woman wearing an apron who struck up a conversation with Judy and invited our walking group (Lynne, Tina, Martha, Judy and I) to come onto her property so she could show us her chickens, of which whe was immensely proud; the trail marker saying "100 km to Santiago", more mud, more cow pies, a stream where we walked on rectangular stones up the middle to keep our feet dry (picture the centre line of a highway - we walked on the dotted lines). We stopped briefly in Peruscallo at a bar for a snack and beverage, and finished in Ferreiros where we all had a big meal at the bar/albergue owned by Jose Manuel, who grew up in this village. The thunder and rain caught up with us within seconds of arriving, so our timing was excellent! We enjoyed Galacian soup, thick crusty bread, salad and a huge Spanish tortilla, which is to Spaniards what the hamburger is to Americans. It's made of potatoes, cheese and eggs and is deeeeeelicious!
We walked about 22 km today, and my legs were really feeling it by the end. I walked alternately with Julia, Brad, Sandi and Lynne today, sometimes chatting away amiably and at other times walking in companionable silence. "The Manipulator" was on the trail with us today....we saw him a couple of times, and once he saw me taking pictures of wildflowers so he started talking to me. He told me that he doesn't have a camera so he puts the flowers in his pockets so he can identify them later. I think he's German, but he speaks English roughly.
We left Ferreiros at about 3:30 in the mini-bus, and as we were turning onto the highway we saw an old man leading a fully-loaded donkey and two little dogs (mutts) along the road. Pepe pulled over so we could take a picture, and Judy struck up a conversation with the man, who we learned is named Hibisco. He is on his way home after walking the Camino de Santiago for the 4th time, once all the way from Rome! His burro was gorgeous and seemed to be well cared for. As we were all standing there in awe (except Jim, Brad and John, who were in the bus cracking themselves up making up "ass" jokes), a convoy of policemen on motorcycles zoomed by and announced on a megaphone that a bike race was approaching. Within minutes, several more motorcycles and security cars zoomed by and then about 100 cyclists raced by. It was so great seeing that! Each group was followed by a support vehicle with spare bikes attached to the roof. It was such a huge contrast, seeing the old man with the donkey walking in gumboots, to the many bikes racing by. However, we saw Hibisco on his cell phone while we were watching the bike race, which kind of took away his allure....
We got back to our casa and were given the option of going to Samos for a tour of the monastary and Vespers at the Church, or staying here. Me 'n the boys stayed here while the 5 girls went to the monastary. They all enjoyed their excursion, and a highlight was the 4'10" monk who gave them the tour.
Dinner was zucchini soup, crusty bread, salad, Spanish tortilla with green peppers, roast leg of pork with roasted red peppers, and a chocolate/vanilla/caramel ice cream slice for dessert. Aurora kept us entertained again, and we spent the evening doing a sing-a-long of every song we could think of. There was lots of laughter and reminiscing (Aurora loves the Beatles!). Pepe disappeared for awhile, and when he came back he told us that a good friend of his was killed in a car crash today. He was teary and appreciative of our condolences.
I'm feeling a pinched sciatic nerve on my right side and my legs feel fatigued, but otherwise this old body seems to be holding out alright. We walked 18.2 km today..
More liquid sunshine
