Summer in Galicia

Every time I have been to Galicia is a lot like every time I've been to Seattle: no matter what time of year, it's pretty much 55 degrees and raining.  This was the weather that greeted us when we left Villafranca del Bierzo two days ago.  I expected it, and was more or less prepared.

There are three routes out of Villafranca: easy, medium, and hard.  I opted for easy, since I had done medium last time, and gave the students the option of easy or medium but not hard.  All but four chose easy, which is probably a testament to our current state of condition/health.  I sent Alex, my assistant, and Jesus, a student, ahead in a taxi as they were in bad enough shape that they should not be walking, and I have two other students fighting the same stomach bug as Alex.  We're six days out guys.  Hang in there!

So we began the climb to O Cebreiro and Galicia, aiming for the town of La Faba, three miles short of the border.  The climb was as hard and as pretty as I remember, following a river up through the mountains.  Our arrival in La Faba was accompanied by a deluge so we hightailed it to the one albergue.  The hospitaleras heard we were coming, and so reserved the entire basement for us.  The albergue is an old medieval farmhouse attached to the church, and is run by Germans.  As you might imagine, it's a rather tight ship.

There was some initial confusion about bedbugs from one of my less experienced and thus more excitable students which I spent about two hours trying to smooth over, but we managed.  It was fairly cold, and our blankets a bit thinner than I would have liked.

We awoke to more heavy rain and continued our climb.  O Cebreiro was clothed in fog and mist.  After a breakfast stop (and fortifying shot of orujo) I walked most of the rest of the way to Triacastela with Mae.  We chatted a while, some serious, some not, but mostly we walked in silence.  Even if you're mostly silent, sometimes it's nice to have someone to walk with.

The kids, I think, are more pensive about the end of the trip, what it all means, and what life will be like once they return home, as am I.  I still don't have "answers" if there are any, but I am simply trying to live the last few days of the Camino and enjoy them.  God will tell me what i need when i need it, so this is little sense in worrying.  Tomorrow is an easy 12 miles to Barbadelo.  We will then only be 100km out of Santiago, and we will have to contend with many more pilgrims.  This is something I'll need to prep the students for.