October 12, 2022. What we used to think of as Columbus Day in the US is also, to our surprise, a National Day of Spain celebrating the spread of Spanish culture and language to the world. This means that all stores and supermarkets are closed and a pilgrim must plan ahead carefully to have supplies of food and any other needs taken care of. It worked out well for us to have destination of Albergue O Xistral ( the X is pronounces like the English sh)which will provide us with dinner and breakfast.,
We arose with dawn and got a good breakfast at our hotel restaurant. The usual cafe con leche, croissant, and orange juice. I tried a tart, as this area is very famous for their tarts, resembling our pies. Leaving the hotel, we walked into the old town of Mondoñedo where we were promised a bakery would be open today, to make sure we had food on the way. Sure enough, several men labored with loaves of bread and working with a giant oven. When I indicated the bread size I wished for us, the boss yelled to the oven man to bring two out for us fresh.
Pleased with our encounter, we passed through tiny old city roads until we found the cathedral and then started up the hill onto the mountain. We knew that we had plenty of climbing to do today, but it was promised to be gradual. Soon we were climbing into the misty mountains and glimbpsed the sun trying to rise above the ridge to our east.
We continued to climb gradually to about 330 meters elevation. We passed numerous farmhouses, farmers working with sheep and cattle, and even a dead fox. Far away we could see the windmill generators poking out of the clouds disclosing their large rotors.
After two hours we took a break, stopping to sit on a downed branch. It turned out to be a good time for regenerated, as the road turned steeply uphill, rising from 330 m to 630 meters. As we arrived on the top, we were also at an intersection of highways, and a roadside restaurant/gas station provided an excellent stop for us for cafe con leche and a picnic with cheese and bread from our bakery visit earlier.
The road continued on much more easily from here, rising and falling gently. We stopped for a rest in the town of Abadín. I discovered my prepaid SIM card had run out of data, and used Alice’s phone to call our Albergue and confirm our arrival. We pressed on and soon dropped under the A-8 autopista and found our albergue, our hostel for the night. Jaime, the owner showed us our beautifully designed rooms and dorm style beds. We were free to catch up on laundry, blog posts or any other details before the 7:00 pm dinner. We celebrated that we are only 134 km from Santiago.
You will always feel a connection to this place and her people.
Especially enjoyed this entry today (maybe had something to do with the fresh bread) and found all the pictures making me wish I was there. Beautiful!