I was thinking and praying about Lamentations 3:22 and 23 this morning... "It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness!
And once again He was merciful and faithful to me and my feet!
We walked through many small towns and hamlets this morning...they seemed to make the way into one continuous town...but were actually mostly farm places one after another. One farmer had some unusual chickens - black feathers with very fuzzy heads. We were watching them peck around the yard whe out of nowhere suddenly there was a 5 to 6 foot ostrich! What is an ostrich doing in Spain??? Much of the way we enjoyed tree line paths and roads with good shade. One particular area was described as ancient woods with oak and chestnut groves.
We stopped for a break and a piece of pound cake in another very nice Albergue in Morgade. We are thinking that so very many pilgrims do this 100 km of the Camino that the places along the way are quite prosperous! Really fixed up nicely with nice spaces for Pilgrims. It was situated 99.5 km from Santiago! We got at stamp at each of the places we stopped today.
The guide says, "This is rural Galicia at her best; wet and green with the sweet smell and squelch of liquid cow dung underfoot." At one point we had a traffic jam on the trail as a farmer, a farm dog, and about a dozen cows came up the path toward us. We were happy to step aside and watch. Three of the cows wanted to linger but at the farmers command, the dog started barking at the cows. When that didn't work, the dog started biting the back legs of the cows! Can you imagine?
Over the course of the morning we went up up up nearly 1000 feet to the highest point at Pena dos Corvos. Then the descent took us into the River Mino valley. We passed through Mercadoiro which records a population of ONE! Somewhere along this path were remains of the Monastery of Santa Maria de Loio - birthplace of the Order of Santiago in the 12th century - but we never saw them.
A steep drop on rough asphalt brought us to the River Torres and the beautiful town of Portomarin. There are 2 bridges over the river - located side by side. The old bridge is of Roman origin and the other is a tall modern bridge. A steep staircase leads up to the arch into the city. At one time the steps and arch were part of the old bridge but ithey were moved to higher ground when a dam was built to creat a reservoir on the river. Not exactly what you want to climb after 14 miles, but it was very pretty at the top. And, the Albergue I had picked out was only a couple of blocks away.
We were able to get a semi private (2 bunks) cubical with a couple from Conneticut. O Mirador is a very nice, fairly new hostel and has a trendy bar and restaurant attached....they have lots of Elvis memorabilia, but it is done very well and looks classy. We had salad and pizza there for lunch....on the porch with a pretty view over the river.
After a warm shower, Andy read for a while and I went into town. The Main Street is cobbled into the main square and stone colonnades line the street in front of the stores and restaurants along the way. Very cool. On the square is a large castle like church - San Nicholas. A smaller church was further down the street but neither one was open. I got some fruit and supplies for tomorrow when the stores opened at 4:00. Even after five weeks, I have to think twice about what times places are open.
We had hoped to stop and see some Elmbrook Missionaries in Ligonde tomorrow. They are involved in a ministry to Pilgrims there. However, I just received an email from them and they will be out of town for a couple of days. Parents are visiting and offered to babysit so they could have a getaway for their anniversary. We will stop by and see the Fuente del Perrgringo Albergue they work with...and look forward to meeting them at Elmbrook some time.
Just about time for supper, so I will stop for now.
Peaceful pathways through the farmland and the forest.
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