Saturday, June 7, 2014

Sarria

"How good it was to be alive. The pain in my feet had eased considerably, and this allowed me to concentrate on the beauty of the surrounding countryside", David Gibson from Ultreia! Forward!

Today was a lovely day walking through woods and farmland. It is very lush and green now, reminding us of BC. There are ferns, mosses, foxglove everywhere. We even got rained on a bit. There was more climbing and descending today than we expected but the trails are improving. Less rocks!  Sometimes we walked through tunnels of green and felt like Hobbits. Other times we were led through barnyards where we dodged cow pies. Always, the yellow arrows lead us along. Sometimes you wonder if you are on the right road and just at that moment a yellow arrow is painted on a rock, tree, fence post or road. Now that we are in Galicia we are treated to kilometer markers every half kilometer. These seem to fly by. We are now something like 112 K from Santiago.
Sarria is the starting point for many pilgrims because you can earn a Compostela by walking just the last 100 K. to Santiago. So we expect to be joined in the coming days by many such short term pilgrims, even bus loads. Not everyone has six weeks to walk a pilgrimage.
On a more practical level, this has got to be the smallest room we have been in yet. On the positive side, there are two big windows that can be opened! And it is quiet!
There is an albergue somewhere near by.
The camino is now going through a barnyard where we are trying to keep our shoes somewhat clean.
The markers we see everyhalf kilometer now. It tells the distance to Santiago. Notice the shell and the yellow arrow.
We were walking through a lot of these tunnel like trails.
Diane and I hamming it up on a small bridge.
Lovely old Hobbit woods.
Lupines, my favourite wild flowers.

2 comments:

  1. Good morning from our breakfast table where I am enjoying Joe's ham and cheese omelet, a rusk, pineapple and strawberries, juice, and a great cup of his strong coffee! It's sunny again (a whole week of lovely weather just gone by) and today we prepare for our week away in Tofino's Pacific Sands Resort (special treat to ourselves to celebrate our 48th Anniversary). We leave after Church tomorrow, return June 16. Your post today is lovely, Chris - pictures are soooo beautiful! You look so relaxed, happy, and FIT. We think about all of you a lot, and keep you in our prayers. We are loving this vicarious journey!!

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  2. Hello Chris and Jeff, Collette and I have been following your trek and just want to say that what you are doing is inspirational to say the least! It looks like you have enjoyed some wonderful experiences along the way. We look forward to catching up on your return,

    David and Collette

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