Sobrado dos Monxes Km 62

The hospitaleras at Miraz

Yesterday I walked 34km from Vilalba to the Albergue at Miraz, which is run by the

Confraternity of St James in the UK, a group dedicated to providing information and help for the Camino de Santiago. What is particularly nice about the Albergue at Miraz, is that there are hospitaleros (volunteer hosts) there to greet you, and generally look after things. In fact, there were three lovely women hospitaleras there, all English speaking, which was a treat for me as I have not had the chance to speak much English for many days. There is no restaurant in Miraz, so you have to bring your own food and then cook it at the Albergue. I decided on making a

hot meal as I am really tired of Bocadillos (sandwiches). I was able to purchase and carry the ingredients at Baamonde, which is the nearest grocery store 15 km before Miraz, to make an awesome lentil stew.

A church appears from nowhere

The walk was long but very beautiful, with pastoral views, rolling hills and no rain! I am in

an area of Spain called Galicia, which interestingly, has strong celtic ties and looks very m

uch like Ireland. Here in Galicia, I have often felt as though I was stepping back in time. In spite of the many mod cons people have, the country life preserves many of the traditional ways; widows still wear black, the fire is main source of heat, people get their water from wells, grown their own vegetables, grind their own grain and store it in little buildings called Horreos. It is both a fascinating and humbling experience to see this more primitive (?) way of life in an otherwise cosmopolitan country.

Entrance to the Abbey at Sobrado de Monxes

From Miraz this morning, it was an easy and rain-free 26 km to Sobrado, where there is a Cistercian Abbey, alive and well with Monks and all. The Abbey has an Albergue and I had planned to stay there but there was so much mold in the dormitory that I began wheezing almost immediately and sadly, I had to leave (really - I was looking forward to staying there). I plan to attend Vespers at the Abbey this evening. Vespers is essentially a Mass that is sung rather than spoken. I have been to Vespers twice before and enjoyed the experience very much; I expect this to be no different.

Miranda at the 100km maker

Sadly, today was my last day of walking, as I have literally run out of time to walk into Santiago without missing my flight back to London on Friday. I had considered trying to walk the 88

km from Miraz over the two days that I had, but I think it would be foolish given the state of my feet, which seem to sprout a new crop of blisters every couple of days and are quite fed up with the whole situation. They are applauding the decision to climb aboard the bus tomorrow morning, but I haven´t told them yet that I plan to spend most of the day walking around Santiago, which is a beautiful city, with excellent shopping! Still, it will be without a backpack, so that should help the situation.

Storks looking for babies

Once again I am posting the blog at the courtesy of a generous hotelier, but the computer is not equipped to accept my photo link so there are no photos. ( I have since added the images MR)