Stacy: Day 11 - The Spiritual Variant
IT WAS COOL TODAY! Like, temperature-wise! You cannot imagine how happy all of us were to not be sweating buckets all day. In fact, I wore my pants and jacket for a good deal this morning.
We started in Pontevedra, and technically ended in Pontevedra...? Right at the base of Combarro.
It was a mostly uneventful day (which is good!). We walked through more gorgeous forests, did some more bouldering (climbing large rocks), and ate some more fantastic food!
When we first arrived at the restaurant for lunch, we noticed an obvious Peregrino sitting alone at the table across from the one we chose. He regarded us some, but never said anything. I believe he was reading a book.
We thought nothing of it. Then, towards the end of our meal, another Peregrino arrived, and sat at the same table, but in the other chair. We struck up a good conversation with this guy--John. Turns out, the guy who was there first was John's brother in law! If we ever met his BIL on the trail we were supposed to ask him, "How was your French Connection?" Apparently, he'd know what it meant.
About halfway through our walking, we came to the fork in the road denoting the Spiritual Variant vs the Central Route. My mom wanted to do the Spiritual Variant, so we went left! A bit farther down (a few more days for us), it becomes one of the most beautiful paths.
The Camino went right past a really neat monastery, so we stopped in. Gorgeous and very large building and complex.
Making our way through the country, the Way brought us directly to another monastery. We JUST beat a crowd of 20-30 people, and were able to grab some photos without people in the way. This church was gorgeous! And, just my style (more Gothic than Baroque).
When we finally reached our hotel, it turns out that the closest place to eat is 18 minutes away; most places around here were closed for the night, but most were closed for the week because it's technically the off season. We started walking in the dark of night... with street lamps. Combarro is lovely at night!
On the way, we ran into the young lady who has the same hat as Dad! She's staying at our hotel. Her name is Chelsea, and her friend's name is also "Stacy" (I don't know how she spells it, however).
Chelsea told us to keep walking because the only open thing she could find was actually very close.
Finding the place, we had a lovely evening, even if it was a tad chilly outside. And, off to bed!
