Hitchin a Ride

After all the excitement of Jill's fall and hospital visit, we decided the best thing to do was to take a rest day and catch a bus so we didn't fall behind. We found a sports store and Jill tried on some trail runners like I've been wearing (I love mine so far!) and regular tennis shoes, but she decided to stick with the Devil she knows in the form of her boots. The blisters don't seem to be getting worse, so hopefully her feet will improve. 

We had a little time before our bus left and found a mall where Jill could get her mangled glasses worked on. It was bliss riding an escalator but we felt really weird in the mall with our trail hair and big packs. 

Jill got her glasses adjusted so they don't fall off but they still hurt her face. At the bus station we saw several pilgrims, so skipping sections must be fairly common. As the bus effortlessly climbed we looked out at green steep hills. We were now in Galicia, which is compared to Celtic country. 

Our destination was O' Cebreiro which seemed like the top of the world.

It was cool and cloudy and we visited a church that dates to the 9th century. It was dark and smelled of burning candles and incense. 

While we were eating dinner in a stone building hung with herbs thunder boomed and a rainstorm hit. 

Rain poured in sheets, running rivers through the stone pavers. It came down for an hour, rain with bits of hail. Galicia's weather is mercurial. I began to worry about tomorrow's hike. 

We stayed in a quaint stone house that was charming, except for the smell of something strong and offensive coming from the kitchen. We suspected the influence of cabbage or stewed skunk. It was nice to be warm and dry while the rain poured down so we plugged our noses and took it.