November 16. O Cebreiro to O Pedrouzo. By Car.

Oof. Still raining this morning plus a healthy dose of fog. The plan today is to backtrack to the Cruz de Ferro (iron cross) as we feel it is a place that Scott should see. 

Our small pension was all wood – small and cosy, and very interestingly designed. The sink is made to look like wood but could be stone or Scott thought concrete.

The bench and clothes rack took up a lot of space.

The thatched roofs are so cool. I suspect there are few craftsmen leftcwho know how to thatched a roof

The bar / cafe  restaurant and gift shops are all together in the same building and you don’t even have to go outside.

I snuck a picture of him making our first fresh squeezed jugo de naranja (orange juice).

This peregrina (female pilgrim in Spanish) waits patiently to welcome you to the top of the long steep hill, the most difficult after the Pyrenees – you know you’ve reached O Cebreiro when you see her. I see that someone has given her a walking stick! That’s good, because it is a very steep climb, as you can see to the right.

The colours in the valleys are stunning, with the grape vines a vibrant golden orange, with occasional splashes of red.

I have to give Scott credit for quick reflexes when I yelled “pull in here” right at the road where I wanted him to “pull in here”, which he did. The Camino crosses the road here at a pilgrim rest area and off to one side is a sculptor’s yard which I recognized at the last minute. In 2019 the gate was unlocked and Ken and an Australian lady and I snuck in and wandered through the yard. Some sculptures were bizarre, others beautifully crafted, and some were in various stages of completion. It looked completely abandoned at that time. But now the gate is locked, and the sculptor has left his name and phone number, so it looks like things are happening again. The BugSnax would have loved to go in for a photoshoot but…locked gate.  We saw some of his work in the local towns.

A much photographed (by pilgrims) house on a hill.

Up into hills again. Ken keeps reflecting on how he can’t believe we walked over these hills.

El Acebo has these medieval houses with balconies that hang over the street.

The Cruz de Ferro. This is such an important place on the Camino, second only to finally arriving at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compestelle.   Pilgrims carry a stone from home and leave it at the base of the cross. The stone is meant to be a prayer or an atonement for a sin or the release of a burden. Recently pilgrims have been leaving momentos of lost loved ones. It can be quite an  emotional experience.

In 2019 I left a horse chestnut for my brother-in-law Garry who had passed away in 2017. We had an ongoing joke about horse chestnuts because I had given him one when I was 7 years old and he was just starting to date my sister.  I was sitting on a park bench in Sahagun, still a 2 week from the Cruz de Ferro and a horse chestnut fell and sat on the bench beside. Spooky. But I carried it the rest of the way for Garry.   I also left a rock for my Scouter friend’s son, who had been recently diagnosed with cancer. Thankfully he is in remission today.

When we arrived there was a South Korean girl, walking around the cross almost like a ritual. I talked to her afterward and we shared some tears. I asked if she needed anything (no) and wished her a Buen Camino.

We follow the Camino trail back down the mountain from the Cruz de Ferro, which is at the highest point on the Camino.

This is Manjarin. A few falling down stone buildings where one eccentric man was running a rustic albergue.  It was an odd place when we stopped in in 2019  with lots of cats. I thought it was shut down permanently but there are a lot place names on signs. There was a Slovakia one front and centre last time and I see it is freshly painted so…who knows? Scott wouldn’t stop so I couldn’t get any great picture.

Ken’s apple tree. He stood here in 2019 listening to one of his favourite songs: I Must Be In A Good Place Now.

We saw these old Seats (Spanish made car) 6pulling into a large albergue/spa that we stayed at last time and had to follow them into the parking lot because…old cars.

Scott took the opportunity to walk on the Camino for a bit, hoping for a better photo shot of Ponferrado in the valley below. The views are incredible and the rain had given us a little break.

Tiny ancient chapel and cemetery right beside the new out-of-place albergue and spa.

Knights Templar castle in Ponferrado.

This place has special meaning for Ken. I assume it was an old mill as it has / had a small stream running underneath the building. It was a very hot day and Ken took off his shoes and soaked them in the cool water. He said it saved him that day. Sadly today it looked like the creek was drying up.

The heights of these bridges are a feat of Spanish engineering.

When I get home, I am going to check my 2019 photos because I would swear I have this same photo from back then (different pumpkins though 🤔😊)

Who says pilgrims have no sense of humour? Someone put bandaids on the statues feet to help him with his blisters. This guy is just past O Cebreiro and is twice the height of me.

Finally got into O Pedrouzo just as night was falling. We were still seeing pilgrims walking and I felt bad for one who was moving so slowly. I hope he was going to the albergue around the corner.  I wanted to go back and offer him a ride but had no takers in the car on that suggestion.

So many albergues are closed now. In El Acebo the albergue owner (where Ken got himself a piece of carrot cake) told us that he had planned to close now but the Pilgrims keep coming so he will stay open for another month.

Some photos Ken took yesterday of a heavily managed forest stand.

Random out-of-place pilgrims in front of the Santiago sign.

Even the man hole covers have the Camino shell.

Snug in our pilgrim pension for the night. The boys went out for Mexican while I did laundry and reorganized my stuff. I bought a duffel bag in which we are putting all the stuff we don’t need to carry with us.  Odds and ends, a few souvenirs, Scott’s spices that he’s been carrying from France. The stuff I tried to mail home a few weeks ago but Canada Post told France La Poste not to send parcels for a while.  At any rate, all of our bags will be lighter for our next Camino.

Tomorrow…we meet up with Antonio!