We got a later start today once we decided that another snow slogging day just wasn’t in the cards for us. We took a taxi over snowy O Cebriero and saw much heartier folks trudging as we had a few days ago through incredibly wet and cold. Jewish princesses, be proud of us for just this day! The taxi dropped us in
Fillobal – a small (really small) pueblo about at the snow line and we walked the rest of the stage for the day. We stopped after a while at a warm cafe and tried a toreja – sort of like a Dutch baby – a local yummy. We stripped layers as it was finally warming up. Have to admit that a change from my one pair of “fashionable” undies into granny pants had to happen…it is no fun getting Melvined (ask someone over 50) while walking.
We walked about 12 km which felt a bit lame compared to prior days. On the way into town we chatted with a retired man from Australia who had retired early after selling a very successful travel business – he was also on the board of the University of Melbourne which peaked Ruth’s interest as she’s considering a study abroad there. I felt a bit remiss in not asking for his email address but it felt a little presumptuous – perhaps we will meet again on the road.
We seemed to need another quiet day. Arriving in Triacastela we found our albergue quickly, and debated about going further…but when we saw that this spot has laundry facilities and an air of complete service to it we stuck to our plan. It turned out just right. We had a private room with its own bathroom and were the first load of peregrino laundry in the queue!
Had awesome egg and cheese tortillas and crusty bread at a local pub restaurant – again we had such a kind server who seemed to enjoy our mother/daughter pairing.
I’m embarrassed to say for the first time on the Way we got sucked into watching TV when we figured out how to change the audio to English. Too many episodes of Flashpoint (Ruth coined the show ‘high anxiety and totally addicting’) along with laughs from Ridiculousness with blooper videos – we definitely lost some of the sanctity of our journey … but it was so fun!
I felt a bit isolated this day as we’d sped ahead of our new friends and Ruth was needing more R & R than I was. But this was also a good exercise for me in adapting my expectations and going with the flow when traveling as a duo. It worked out just fine. Clean laundry, healing feet, and good sleep helped us face the next day rested and ready for the lovely change in weather and scenery to come.
Living La Vida Loca 