Camino bore, Day 23. Reaching for the stars.

Saturday 22nd May, Vega de Valcarce to O Cebreiro.
A great day! Went from 640m to 1330 m above sea level, but not a long walk - 11 km - so that we could have a look round this small touristy place and have a bit of a rest.
http://discoveringalicia.blogspot.com/2005/10/o-cebreiro.html

Oh no - she's showing off that foot again!

My foot was photographed by a New Zealand couple 'so that people back home could see what pilgrims put up with', and this was the first time I realised that my foot could be a star. We were waiting in the queue outside the albergue, and I had taken off all boots and dressings to give it a bit of an airing in the sun, and on its first showing it was especially tripey - tripe foot - until the sun ripened it to a bit of a crisper texture. Do I need to say more? I think not. (Find out about tripe yourself if you don't know already; I don't see it on the menu these days. A former delicacy boiled up in huge panfuls.)

We witnessed the strange sight of hordes of people in normal shoes; we are far more accustomed to people in boots or sandals, and the idea of little trim shiny things is very alien.

Going up into Galicia

...and up.....

Had dinner (including 'Santiago tart') with Mark the Belgian, who has been on the camino a week, having got on at Leon (think of it as a constantly moving roundabout going back a thousand years) reported that 'the camino is doing its work'. Crikey - it's 22nd May 2011 and I'm still waiting for it to work on me! But I feel I might be moving out of my 'Test every bouncy castle to the utmost' phase and into something else, so maybe... but it is too early to tell.

Not from an aeroplane.

We are now in Galicia, in which region falls Santiago itself, and a so feeling of celebration. Modern albergue, but no doors on the showers which looked out onto verandah through clear glass windows. But pilgrims seem not to be fussed by such things, and we weren't. Couldn't sleep, so got out of bed at midnight and went for a walk to a high point above the albergue to view the stars; a Spanish bloke appeared out of the shadows and said 'Hola!' at which point I fled back inside. D couldn't sleep either, so we both then went out for a little walk together.

Quick someone, find me a profound thought! We had the washing line and boot rack with the best view in the world, and that is probably all we thought about - the view. See it in the film 'The Way', the very high-up bit somewhere in the middle. So we just enjoyed the view.