Camino de Santiago – Day 2 From Pereje to O Cebreiro

The next morning we woke up, not even dressed (because in the “Camino” I learned that it is more practical, and warm, to sleep with the clothes that you want to wear the next day already on), and immediately started walking…

We had only half a stage and knew that we were supposed to climb, but oh boy! what a climb! O Cebreiro is 1.330 metros above the ground level and it was the place where we knew we had to spend the night, nevertheless there were moments during the day when I thought I wouldn’t be able to arrive. But I did, and because they didn’t have a bus stop, I decided to keep walking the morning after. Because if they had one… I’m not going to lie to you, that day was so hard, climbing for 8 hours across the woods and the mud, with non stop rain and my clothes soaking wet, that if arriving to O Cebreiro I would have seen any bus stop I would have jumped on the bus and came home. But it wasn’t and I didn’t! Live has its mysterious reasons.

And it always finds a way to compensate the bad with the good. So, that day, after hours waiting in line to use the dry machine (to dry all – and I mean, ALL – my clothes, in order to take a shower, get read of the soaking wet clothes I had on my body and put on something clean and slightly drier) I finally picked myself up and left to have dinner in one of the cozy restaurants in O Cebreiro. Dinner was a major strength restorer, both because of the delicious food and because of the company. Over dinner we closely met Jaime, Roberto I & II, Silvia, Gonzalo, Guy, Carlos and José Maria. Some of the people that would keep us company until the end of the path!

To see more pictures (without the LOMO fish eye), please check here. 

Camino de Santiago – Day 2 From Pereje to O Cebreiro

The next morning we woke up, not even dressed (because in the “Camino” I learned that it is more practical, and warm, to sleep with the clothes that you want to wear the next day already on), and immediately started walking…

We had only half a stage and knew that we were supposed to climb, but oh boy! what a climb! O Cebreiro is 1.330 metros above the ground level and it was the place where we knew we had to spend the night, nevertheless there were moments during the day when I thought I wouldn’t be able to arrive. But I did, and because they didn’t have a bus stop, I decided to keep walking the morning after. Because if they had one… I’m not going to lie to you, that day was so hard, climbing for 8 hours across the woods and the mud, with non stop rain and my clothes soaking wet, that if arriving to O Cebreiro I would have seen any bus stop I would have jumped on the bus and came home. But it wasn’t and I didn’t! Live has its mysterious reasons.

And it always finds a way to compensate the bad with the good. So, that day, after hours waiting in line to use the dry machine (to dry all – and I mean, ALL – my clothes, in order to take a shower, get read of the soaking wet clothes I had on my body and put on something clean and slightly drier) I finally picked myself up and left to have dinner in one of the cozy restaurants in O Cebreiro. Dinner was a major strength restorer, both because of the delicious food and because of the company. Over dinner we closely met Jaime, Roberto I & II, Silvia, Gonzalo, Guy, Carlos and José Maria. Some of the people that would keep us company until the end of the path!

To see more pictures (without the LOMO fish eye), please check here. 

Camino de Santiago – Day 1 From Ponferrada to Pereje

This year I decided to go north, to León and Galicia, and experienced some of the treats Spain has to offer and much much more. Not only I wanted to discover more about those two regions, but I also wanted to accomplish a goal: complete part of the Santiago Path in 8 days. And I did it! Here’s a little diary about my life changing experience on this centenary path.

The first day I arrived to Ponferrada, in León, early in the morning. From there to Santiago de Compostela, trough the path there are 208kms. To tell you the truth, the first day was quite easy. I’m used to walk a lot. Plus, my fiend I (which I haven’t seen for some time now) and I had a lot to catch up, so the time flew and step by step, but the lunch time, we arrived to Villafranca del Bierzo. According to my guide, this village (very posh village, to be exact) marked the end of the 23^rd stage of the Camino, but we felt pretty o.k. and decided to keep going… just a little bit further, to the next village: Pereje.

The shelter in Pereje was very cute and typical (despite the fact the heat wasn’t working) and we stayed in the same room as some of the people we’ve meet along the way in our first day. All together we had a great dinner in the only bar of the village and exchanged our experiences. 

To see more pictures (without the LOMO fish eye), please check here.