Tired

Fonfria to Samos (Thursday, June 24th)
Grrrr. The cyclists are up early, making lots of noise, and then, surprise, they're still out in the cafe sipping their coffee awhile later when we get out there. It isn't like they really get an early start or anything... okay soapbox over.

Anyway, since we are awakened early, we get ready and are on the road before the sun is up



We continue to walk through the Galician countryside, and I add to my collection of pictures of interesting doorways. Green is still the most popular color, though it doesn't look as though anyone has painted anything in recent years. As I have already mentioned, Galicia is the poorest region in Spain and we pass many households and farms in which it is difficult to imagine anyone living because the conditions seem so bad. The dampness and the cold weather must be nearly unbearable in some of these places, except that the farmers keep their livestock in the same buildings in which they live (which means the smells must get unbearable!), so their body heat perhaps also helps keep the humans warm in the colder weather. In summer, the animals are left to graze outdoors. One farmhouse has an outbuilding with unique siding. We pass through another farm that actually has a separate barn, and this horse pops his (or her) head out a window to greet us!



As we continue our gentle descent down the mountainside, we are blessed with beautiful early morning views. One of the views includes the quarry from which the stone and lime for the cathedral in Santiago was constructed. At the time it was being built, pilgrims were expected to take at least one stone with them as they passed by and carry them to the kilns in Castaneda, and that is how the basilica in Santiago got built!

We have seen some very old trees already, but in Galicia, especially, we will see some amazing ones, including this gnarly specimen. Notice how big it is compared to Stella! I don't have any idea what kind of tree it is, but apparently, you have to have pretty long arms to be a 'tree hugger' in these here parts!

We arrive in the very old city of Triacastella, which seems to be a very much alive little city and very pleasant. We come to the church and, as we do in lots of places, decide to poke our head in, if for no other reasons than just to admire the art and to get a stamp on our credentials. It is a lovely little church. While part of it dates from the 12th century, most of it, including the bell tower above, only date to the 18th. But it has an active congregation as opposed to many of the others we've seen. On the wall is some work of a Sunday school class that is rather interesting. In many different languages, it says, "To be a Christian is to imitate Christ within your own limitations." Some bread for the journey. We come back outside and notice how full and closely packed the graveyard is - apparently space is at a premium as they have some of them stacked 5 and 6 high behind where I'm standing. Perhaps the ground is that rocky and they just can't go down; they have to go up. Nothing like a highrise cemetery! Outside the church is the city's coat-of-arms which clearly indicates three castles, like the name implies. We have not seen hide-nor-hair of anything that looks like a castle or a 'hillfort' within or overlooking this little city nestled in the hills. We stop in a bank to get some more euros and ask about the castles and the name of the city. The man just laughs it off - oh, they've been gone for centuries, apparently. Guess we should have read the guide book more closely, apparently! We're a little disappointed.

Coming out of Triacastela, there's a choice. We could go more directly to Sarria (we'll end up going through there anyway), or we could take the southerly route that goes through Samos. We opt for Samos because it has the wonderful Benedictine monastery there. It is one of the oldest monasteries in the Western world, with origins back to the 6th century! It is also supposed to be a very scenic route. It ends up being sort of another Mystic Seaport route, but we do eventually get there. Stella and I finally reach one village that we think just has to be Samos only to find that it is not, but we take a break at a little cafe there so we can make it the last few kilometers.

In going the last few kilometers, I get a little ahead of Stella again, but I am near several other pilgrims. We are all pretty much ready to get to Samos. At last, we arrive at a break in the trees and we are looking down into the city. It is fascinating to have this perspective on the monastery building. It still takes a little while to get into the city - it feels like we are walking around our elbow to get to our thumb as we are apparently walking around an old city wall or something, but at least it is downhill all the way. Finally, I enter the city proper. The monastery sits like a doting grandmother with skirts all laid out, the village gathered around her like so many eager grandchildren. There is a small river and almost a park-like setting surrounding the monastery.

I'm really tempted to get an ice cream as I sit down on the stone wall to wait for Stella to arrive since we are not sure where we are going to stay here. It feels good to let go of my pack and just lay down on the top of the wall and feel the breeze... ahhhhh... Did I mention that Stella and I have been developing an ice cream habit lately? With a preference for alemandrado blanco? It's vanilla ice cream on a stick covered in white chocolate with chopped up almonds. YUMMM. And we have a preference for which brand of ice cream, too, but in a pinch, we'll take what's available. Especially after a long hot walk. I guess I'll wait for her to do the ice cream. We probably need lunch first. Maybe.

Okay, so back to the monastery and Samos. The monatery was at first Coptic, like the monks in the Desert. By the 8th century, these monks would help educate King Alfonso II, the king who would later help promote the discovery of St. James' tomb which happened during his reign (the plot thickens!). During the 10th c., the monastery became Benedictine. About the year 1000, the monks built the unusual Chapel of El Salvador, also known as the Cypress Chapel, after the enormous cypress tree that stands next to the chapel and that is over 1000 years old. They have been taking in pilgrims ever since they became Benedictine. But this is not where we decided to stay!

After Stella arrived, we found an almost new alburgue just down the street, overlooking the monastery. We thought it was expensive, but we are realizing the closer we get to Santiago, the more expensive everything is! Anyway, the Val de Samos Alburgue, too new to even be in our updated guidebooks, was lovely. And there were not that many of us staying there. One woman staying in our bunk room seemed to be especially anti-social or else she just wasn't feeling well. She covered her head as she laid on her bunk the entire time. Once again, the building was practically built into the rock wall behind the building.

After we did our laundry, got cleaned up and settled, we went out and toured Samos. We found some lunch and then we decided to do the late afternoon tour of the monastery. It was really interesting. Only about 20 monks still live in the huge building. Part serves as a hostel; part is rented out as apartments it looks like. We get to see some of the more public areas on the first and second floors and the cloister and courtyard. Parts of the monastery have been rebuilt or added onto many times, so there are many styles represented.
Most of the tour was in Spanish, so, even though Stella was with me, we didn't understand a lot of the details of what was being said, but we got the gist of it. There was a big fire in the 1950's, so many of the murals in the upstairs hallways are suprisingly modern.

After the tour, we finally got our ice cream! We found that the local library was open and had computers we could use for a little while. Dinner was at a little 'mom & pop' restaurant down the street. Salut!