The camino is saving its best for last! I knew this stage was coming but have said nothing until now.
After a great night in the albergue we were served breakfast. That's something of a rarity around here! Lots of toast and jam - no need to worry about the calories :0) Oh, and lots of coffee too :0)
The days are breaking noticeably later every day now. I waited around until 08:15 and it still looked almost black outside. Since I we were right beside a road it would be very difficult to get lost so I set off. I was soon on my way and the camino soon turned to the right and out across the moors. Daylight was breaking. Low grey clouds threatened rain but none came.
I was feeling in great shape and again I put my music on and strode on. A very light shower started but it wasn't enough to warrent wet weather gear so I stayed with my jacket and hat.
Today's stage was 25k - a short walk compared to yesterday's 38km. Nevertheless this is still a reasonable distance to have to walk.
The weather never really threatened. I walked in a couple of sessions of light drizzle but apart from that it remained dry if cloudy. I walked along beside ancient stone walls - many of them once parts of ancient caminos. There are old established routes all over this land, and the old stone borders and obelisks marking the crossings can still be seen, now built into walls and hedges.
My destination soon appeared - this was the 12th century Trappist monastery at Sobredo - to give the town its full title: Sobredo dos Monxes, which is Galician for Sobredo dos Monjes (Sobredo of the Monks).
Oh wow! This ancient and majestic building looked like something out of a film set. With new cloisters and dormitories added in roughly the 19th or 20th century, the ancient, massive granite monastery stood against the skyline, it's turrets and columns given to grasses and moss - much like the images of Angkor Wat.
I was greeted by a friendly monk and my credencial duly stamped I was shown to the very clean and rustic dormitories. Stone walls and wooden beds - all very clean and comfortable.
I went walkabout and visited the ancient cloisters and the ancient and now abandoned monastery itself, which looks as if it lost it's windows during the civil war. Traces of murals remained, which I photographed but I wasn't about to buy the 6 euro guide detailing the history and contents of the place. I guess there's always the internet ;0)
The monastery closes between 14:30 and 16:30hrs so I had begun to feel a little curious as to whether others would be arriving when they all arrived en masse at 16:32 :0) All the expected there, plus David - a forty-ish German chap who's walking the same way.
A short while later he (David) accompanied me and Carmen into town to shop for supper and we returned with a couple of full bags and I began preparing spaghetti for four. As I put the water on to boil and we began chopping, a young Spanish cyclist suggested that, since he had been planning to cook pasta, we pool our resources. We did so and a short while later (by now around 20:00hrs) we sat down to a very large bowl of spaghetti with a sort of garlic/olive oil dressing - courtesy of yours truly. I seem to have rediscoved an ability to produce edible dishes from minimal ingredients ;0)
We had great fun eating and drinking together. David kindly supplied the wine. A short while later the Spanish students filed in to begin their own preparations. We had finished eating and for some reason Estelle (the Danish woman) began a recital of "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley. She had a beautiful voice and the young Spanish group came by to compliment her. We enquired about voices and they volunteered one of their number - Maria - to sing.
Before any singing could be done we went off to witness the final mass of the day. Upstairs in a small side chapel the monks sang in plain, simple tones and gave a short prayer. It's the service after Vespers, I've forgotten the Spanish name. It was a short but beautiful service. I commented later to the priest I'd been chatting to the night before in Miraz (and who was one of the leaders of the young group) that such simplicity and such acts, when freed from political overtones and ideas about competition among religions, seemed so self-explanatory and satisfying that one could hardly take issue either with them or with the idea of religion in general.
And then the singing :0) The young group came over to the table we'd regained since the service and, with some hand clapping reminiscent of Flamenco, proceeded to deliver a very gutsy (and tuneful) version of a well known Spanish song (judging by the gusto with which everyone joined in the chorus!)
So, the camino saves its best for the last. Three days to go and everyone is noticeably more relaxed and having fun. The day's experience and its setting were worth the entire walk alone!
After a great night in the albergue we were served breakfast. That's something of a rarity around here! Lots of toast and jam - no need to worry about the calories :0) Oh, and lots of coffee too :0)
The days are breaking noticeably later every day now. I waited around until 08:15 and it still looked almost black outside. Since I we were right beside a road it would be very difficult to get lost so I set off. I was soon on my way and the camino soon turned to the right and out across the moors. Daylight was breaking. Low grey clouds threatened rain but none came.
I was feeling in great shape and again I put my music on and strode on. A very light shower started but it wasn't enough to warrent wet weather gear so I stayed with my jacket and hat.
Today's stage was 25k - a short walk compared to yesterday's 38km. Nevertheless this is still a reasonable distance to have to walk.
The weather never really threatened. I walked in a couple of sessions of light drizzle but apart from that it remained dry if cloudy. I walked along beside ancient stone walls - many of them once parts of ancient caminos. There are old established routes all over this land, and the old stone borders and obelisks marking the crossings can still be seen, now built into walls and hedges.
My destination soon appeared - this was the 12th century Trappist monastery at Sobredo - to give the town its full title: Sobredo dos Monxes, which is Galician for Sobredo dos Monjes (Sobredo of the Monks).
Oh wow! This ancient and majestic building looked like something out of a film set. With new cloisters and dormitories added in roughly the 19th or 20th century, the ancient, massive granite monastery stood against the skyline, it's turrets and columns given to grasses and moss - much like the images of Angkor Wat.
I was greeted by a friendly monk and my credencial duly stamped I was shown to the very clean and rustic dormitories. Stone walls and wooden beds - all very clean and comfortable.
I went walkabout and visited the ancient cloisters and the ancient and now abandoned monastery itself, which looks as if it lost it's windows during the civil war. Traces of murals remained, which I photographed but I wasn't about to buy the 6 euro guide detailing the history and contents of the place. I guess there's always the internet ;0)
The monastery closes between 14:30 and 16:30hrs so I had begun to feel a little curious as to whether others would be arriving when they all arrived en masse at 16:32 :0) All the expected there, plus David - a forty-ish German chap who's walking the same way.
A short while later he (David) accompanied me and Carmen into town to shop for supper and we returned with a couple of full bags and I began preparing spaghetti for four. As I put the water on to boil and we began chopping, a young Spanish cyclist suggested that, since he had been planning to cook pasta, we pool our resources. We did so and a short while later (by now around 20:00hrs) we sat down to a very large bowl of spaghetti with a sort of garlic/olive oil dressing - courtesy of yours truly. I seem to have rediscoved an ability to produce edible dishes from minimal ingredients ;0)
We had great fun eating and drinking together. David kindly supplied the wine. A short while later the Spanish students filed in to begin their own preparations. We had finished eating and for some reason Estelle (the Danish woman) began a recital of "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley. She had a beautiful voice and the young Spanish group came by to compliment her. We enquired about voices and they volunteered one of their number - Maria - to sing.
Before any singing could be done we went off to witness the final mass of the day. Upstairs in a small side chapel the monks sang in plain, simple tones and gave a short prayer. It's the service after Vespers, I've forgotten the Spanish name. It was a short but beautiful service. I commented later to the priest I'd been chatting to the night before in Miraz (and who was one of the leaders of the young group) that such simplicity and such acts, when freed from political overtones and ideas about competition among religions, seemed so self-explanatory and satisfying that one could hardly take issue either with them or with the idea of religion in general.
And then the singing :0) The young group came over to the table we'd regained since the service and, with some hand clapping reminiscent of Flamenco, proceeded to deliver a very gutsy (and tuneful) version of a well known Spanish song (judging by the gusto with which everyone joined in the chorus!)
So, the camino saves its best for the last. Three days to go and everyone is noticeably more relaxed and having fun. The day's experience and its setting were worth the entire walk alone!
Sounds wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHI Al - sorry for the absence - I have a bit of catching up to do with the blog, which I'm about to do, but just wanted to say Well done! You're nearly there! How exciting! It'll be a bit weird going back home after that perhaps....
ReplyDeleteHi Gigi,
DeleteNope - it won't be at all weird going home, it'll be completely wonderful! :0) Oh the things I'm going to eat... Proper breakfasts, Marmite sandwiches, whatever's in the fridge!
:0)