Most of our walks from Pintín have been in the dark, so this morning was a treat, getting to observe more of our surroundings.A short walk along the road out of Pintín led us into a small forest and back out again.The path out of the forest merged with the main secondary road into Sarria.Along the way, we were taken through the village of Aquiada, where the only thing moving this morning were the jaws of a few cows resting outside a barn, chewing their cud.Leaving Aquiada onto the dirt path The dirt path undulated frequently all the way into Sarria.Walking got rather rough exacerbating the undulations.The path’s last ditch effort to do us in before we stopped for breakfast.Our breakfast place just before Sarria.A well groomed gravel path entering Sarria.Following the Camino through SarriaFollowing the Camino through Sarria continued Walking the Camino through Sarria.Following the Camino up, up, up the steps, passed the Igrexa de Santa Maríña at the top and then down the steep pavement, turning right to go out of Sarria and over the medieval bridge.Leaving the Camino continuing straight, not left to go up the steps thus avoiding the steps up and steep pavement back down to the medieval A Ponte Da Aspera bridge… “our way”.“Our way”“Our way” continued…turn left at the fountain “our way”“Our Way” to the A Ponte Da Aspera medieval bridge.Walking over the medieval A Ponte Da Aspera bridge out of Sarria.After crossing the A Ponte Da Aspera the dirt path passed through shade trees, along a small stream and small corn fields.The path went along the railroad tracks for a while. Today was the first time we heard the train whistle and actually saw a passenger train whiz by. A short walk later we crossed the tracks.Before following the path back into the woods, a truck could be heard on the overhead. auto via,Only a few seconds later another warning whistle was heard and a second train raced by…… this one was carrying logs going to a lumber mill somewhere.After the excitement of seeing two trains pass by, the path re-entered the woods and we crossed a small stream.The path immediately headed uphill, so we were inclined to go with it, even though we had memories of the hard climb ahead.This forest is populated with many large, old trees, some mangled from enduring probably hundreds of years.A huge old tree right on the pathThe climb required a continuation of effort from bottom to top.Linda’s expression reveals the effort required.Making a final turn at the top.Made it!!Moving along, on level ground once more.Right after the climb we emerged from the forest and passed through this field which terminated at the edge of the village of Barbadelo and the albergue of the same name.
We’ve had unpleasant experiences with Barbadelo both with overnight stays and the restaurant treatment of guests. Consequently, we no longer patronize the village, if we can help it. Walking beyond Barbadelo to another more suitable location requires us to exceed our target maximum for a single day’s walk, so we use the two night stay at Casa Cines and taxi combination to mitigate the “problem”.
We completed today’s 7 mile walk at Barbadelo at 10:20 a.m. We had a drink on the albergue restaurant terrace and watched the passing pilgrims, while waiting for a cab to take us back to Casa Cines to spend the rest of the day and night.
Our good friend, Ñuria, who has been an exceptional host and provided timely support for all 8 of our Caminos beginning in 2015.
We had a late lunch/main meal at 2:30 and settled our bill and said our goodbyes to Ñuria and retired to our room to complete our routines and review plans for tomorrow before calling it a day.
Jimandi 