32 km. Crossed the bridge into Galicia (Ribadeo) first thing in the morning. Then lots and lots of hills and climbing. 870 m of ascents and descents. Sunny, dry day, and the weather is getting warmer.
As I mentioned yesterday, we turned inland today, so it was mountain walking. Really lovely, on very quiet roads and paths. We saw very few cars. It was rigorous walking with all the climbs, but went quite fast because just past Ribadeo, I met and walked with Milli from Hungary. She was fun and very chatty. She had lived in Spain and spoke fluent Spanish; my Spanish was better than her English, so we spoke only in Spanish. (The first few minutes after meeting people on the Camino are often spent finding the best language to use.) With the chat and focusing on recalling words (my Spanish is still not all back), the time flew by.
At one point, Milli commented that by walking, we see so much more and notice the land. I have also been thinking about this, probably because the Camino is not a back country hike, and often walks with or near road traffic. Roads are designed to find the smoothest route. Between that and the speed of travel, it is easy to miss subleties in the landscape around you. When walking, you experience every hill (and the grade of the hill!) and every stream, you know whether the ground is wet or dry, can see the condition and types of trees, you get up close and personal with the animals, etc. To be fair, though, cars are a much more efficient form of transportation, ha.
We arrived at the albergue at 6 pm. I gave the woman my name, and about 5 seconds later Annie popped her head around the corner. ‘Terri? Did I hear Terri?’ My Austrian friends were there! Hugs all around. Sylvia gives amazing bear hugs. That felt great. The Austrians were cooking but Milli and I needed to find a restaurant. We had only passed one cafe all day where we stopped for a sandwich, and other than that, we mostly just kept walking. So we got cleaned up, went back down to visit everyone for a bit, then headed out to find dinner.
On the way out, Milli had a big smile and told me that she was so happy. She said usually she is tired at night and just wants to eat and sleep. But seeing the Austrians greet me and then meeting them pepped her right up. She said it felt like a like party. Yep, Milli, I know what you mean.
Photos from the day:
Met this noisy guy. Gave me the side eye.
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