Story in pictures - Day 11

We left Ferreira bright and early, donning smiles, and turned the wrong way. Yup. Our short day just got longer. Luckily we could circle back around, only adding a couple of kilometers to our Day 11 journey to Melide. 

I normally have a bazillion words streaming around in my head, but today I focused on images. 

Normality returned and we started in the foggy drizzle of Northern Spain. 

The crisp air kept us moving quick and we soon forgot about our legs and feet, and relished in the beauty of this place. 

Fields of corn. 

Fields of cows. 

We think this is hay wrapped in plastic. It has a very distinctive sicky sweet smell that has become a part of this path. 

I love waking the paths through the farm land, but the little stone houses in the towns are incredible. 

Remember yesterday, I asked what these skinny little structures are, well MJ's family came to the rescue and these building are called horreos. The horreros are used to store corn, etc. In the Province of Asturias the horreos are more of a square shape, and not so narrow, but also built on stilts. 

Crossing a creek, we found this little shrine. The writing on the slab says to make your own path in life - which seems a little ironic since we are following a path made in the 9th Century by King Alfonso II. 

Another difference we've noticed in Galicia is that the cemeteries are on the church property, while in Asturias we saw separate, walled off cemeteries. 

Today there was a lot more ups and downs than yesterday. On one of our steep inclines the wind started to blast water molecules in our faces and we came around a corner to see this:

The temperature drop quickened our steps even more and before you know it we've turned another corner to see this:

A lady with purple hair, 2 dogs, and 7 cats invited us in for hot tea. Of course we went in, and she had some handmade jewelry in her little house. 

The kittens and pups brightened our mid morning brain, and we continued on. 

As we decreased in elevation, that mid day sun burned off our cool cloud cover and the heat turned on. 

As we walk through the little towns we always joke about the fact that there are no people, and yet signs of life. One of the signs we see often is clean laundry blowing in the wind. At this point, we are both quite jealous of people with clean clothes. 

 

Each day at about 20 km our feet cry out for us to stop. According to the map, today was supposed to be 21 km, but remember, we took an extra circle this

morning, but we knew we were still quite far from Melide :(

We both do a really good job staying positive and making jokes so that we can laugh. One of the qualities that makes a good hiking partner. 

Something else I've noticed on this journey is that people, although we never see them, do an amazing job at taking care of their house. 

Flowers planted everywhere, clean yards, and lots of dogs. 

Our short day seemed never ending. 

We did walk right by a flower nursery. 

As we came closer to Melide, signs of civilization picked up. We spent a lot of time on the road again, and looked up to notice this. 

Why in the world are Spanish STOP signs in English??

In our normal fashion we hobbled into Melide - for a total of 27 km. This time we were faster and when we got to town it was bustling. We knew that we'd better check in to our hotel, get our boots off, and head to lunch and then to stock up on groceries before the town went into siesta mode. 

We also stopped by the big church here and it was open!

Now it's time to ice and rest our feet, and celebrate our accumulative 311 km journey. 

Day 11: Ferreira to Melide = 27 km

Opposite Day - day 10 on the primitive Camino de Santiago

Today was Opposite Day. We left bright and early, crossing the Roman Bridge in clear skies. 

Passing St. Lazarus, a former leper refuge, we headed out of Lugo. 

I'm a bit bummed that we dragged ourselves into Lugo, both a bit broken, because we needed rest and couldn't explore the old Roman walled city. I guess I'll have to return someday, but by car ;)

Today I felt much better. I wrapped my shin and walked with more intention, being careful about my steps. The frustrating part about today's journey was that most of the 27 km was spent on paved roads. 

This probably doesn't sound like a problem, but I'm wearing actual hiking boots and they aren't meant for pavement. That and the fact that when you are on an actual road, your brain thinks about why you are walking and not driving. People drive nuts around here! Country road speed driving. 

One of the glorious things that happened this morning is that we left 1 1/2 before the hotel served breakfast, but they made special accommodations for us and we stocked up on snacks. At our first food break we sat at a run down bus stop bench. We started walking shortly after and looked up to see this. 

Of course I had to snap a photo, so when MJ reached in her pocket to do the same, she realized that she had left her phone at the bus stop!

I graciously agreed to stay with our bags so she could go back and see if the phone was still there. 

Luckily a group saw the phone and decided to pick it up and carry it with them. She asked everyone she passed and not 0.5 km down she found her phone. Whew. 

Our original destination was supposed to be 19 km, and we arrived in record time to accurate distance predictions. Each day we've had to add 3-6 km to the published distances, but, again, this must be Opposite Day. 

In fact the Camino shells have some additional information. 

Not only is there a remaining distance countdown to Santiago, but the measurement is to the thousandth place! What? You mean we have 93.611 km left? We haven't had an accurate measurement yet, and now the precision can be 3 decimal points? 

One of the new things we've noticed on this part of the journey are these little, skinny raised buildings. Does anyone know what these are?

We had planned to stop in San Romao da Retorta, but it just felt too short to stop, so, of course, we kept going, which ended in a hot road of gravel (this is a common theme). 

We also got to catch a glimpse of some cuddling sheep, and what could be better than that. 

We had our doubts about the added distance, but it ended in finding the most glorious accommodations - Albergue a Nave de Ferreira - if you're thinking of staying in Ferreira, this is your place. 

Day 10 - done - Lugo to Ferreira

Total distance since Oviedo = 284 km (176 miles)

Break for self pity - Day 9

Day 9.

I haven't lost sight of the fact that I'm in a beautiful country, hiking with an awesome friend, but I need to do a little whining...

Remember my allergic reaction from yesterday? Well, I took some meds, and passed out, literally. I couldn't even begin to think of keeping my eyes open. Good news - the itching and red rash all over my body stopped. Bad news - I woke up feeling like my hands were going to pop off my wrists. 

For some reason both my hands are so filled with fluid that I couldn't even bend my fingers. Weird. 

Ok, so we started hiking bright and early, and guess what - we were in the fog. (Seeing a pattern here?)

Cool mist covered us as we left O'Cadavo. 

We knew today was going to be a long day - 30+ km, so we started out cheery and positive. We hiked pretty fast and came upon another pilgrim that had his shoe off and was limping around a cross. 

MJ asked if he was ok, and he showed us his giant blister on his toe. Well, MJ, being the traveling nurse with her first aid supplies, sat right down and helped him mend his toe. 

Save #1 of the day. 

We kept walking and walking and walking. Passing all the closed churches and empty towns. 

We started getting desperate for food. See, we would have gotten snacks in O'Cadavo, but we were there on a Sunday, and the only store in town is closed on Sundays. 

We saw a sign for food and kept trudging along when we found this little guy. 

There are lots of dogs around, but most are chained up being used as guard dogs. This little terrier mutt face was sitting on a wall waiting for some pets. 

Shortly after we found a vending machine with ham sandwiches - which, I know, sounds strange, but seems quite normal after you've been here for a while. 

Right after our machine lunch, my right leg exploded. Not literally, obviously, but I felt a huge gush of liquid flood down from my hip to my foot. I had to stop to make sure there wasn't any blood seeping out, but there must have been an internal gush, because at that moment, my shin burst into flames and it felt like I was being stabbed. Excruciating. 

Then MJ says - sounds line shin splints. I have a leg brace, so you want one? AND THEN she pulls a freaking leg brace out of her medical kit. 

Save #2. 

We thought we only had 10 more kilometers to go, so I decided to hobble. Little did we know that this day would turn into a 38 km (23 mile) day, the last third of which I felt like I was going to loose a leg. 

Ok, so now I have more physical pain. Wasn't I just saying that I was starting to be able to think about more than just physical pain? My shin is killing me, my hands are still balloons, and it's only day 9. 

THEN - to top it off, we arrive to Lugo, which is a big step, and this is how we find things. 

Completely empty. No one. Nothing. Stores closed. Not a soul in sight. I know this could be siesta time, but isn't this the height of tourist season? Now, how do we get food before 8:30 pm? Oh we - we don't. 

Whining done. 

Once again, MJ's Tia called ahead and booked us a room for queens. Here's the view. 

Now - time to rest and stretch. 

Today's totals = O'Cadavo -> Lugo 38 km (23 miles)