< Norte Day 28 — Norte Day 30 > < Norte Index >
21 kilometers, 5 hours, passing through Boimil, Boimorto, and Sendelle.
The worst and better.
The worst night’s sleep ever. We stayed at the monastery in Sobrados. I didn’t blame them for the sleeping conditions. But of the thirteen beds in our small bunk room, at least four contained chronically snoring people, one of them in the bunk below me. We couldn’t leave fast enough the next morning. Out of the monastery well before dawn, we stopped at a cafe once outside the grounds for breakfast.
Things change:
As soon as we came to the 100-kilometers to go mark—the point where a pilgrim can start their Camino and still earn a Compostela from the Catholic church—many new faces, figuratively, came out of the woods. Most of them had bunked at the monastery the previous night. We would have thirty-nine kilometers remaining to Santiago after Arzúa. One more stop after this night.
We had enough rain to get good and wet before ducking into a bar, and enough sunshine to eventually dry out. Each day had become sort of bar to bar. Sometimes we even got slightly miffed when they were closed. But only slightly.
This stage came easy, with no climbing, and mostly on quiet roads. In fact, it was a bit boring. More pastures and eucalyptus plantations, and not much else. At the first bar where we had breakfast in Sobrados, the guy behind the bar, so harried with business, came across as upset. I hoped that not every day is like that for him. In the second one, a very nice and helpful lady made us tea and served me a small bit of tarta (cake).
The best:
We picked an albergue with good ratings in Arzúa to stay. The ratings seemed quite justified. The showers alone would garner a five-star rating from me. The stalls were huge with rainfall showerheads and loads of hot water.
Arzúa is the place where the Camino del Norte and the Camino Francés (The Way) come together. Things got busier. On every corner on the main street, there were Camino related tourist curios for sale in quaint little shops. We would see more pilgrims in the next two days then we had in the last month.
Near the albergue we found a nice, new restaurant called, Taste the Way. I loved it immediately. Hip, it had a mercantile feel to it with gifts and local products on shelves around the small dining area. In the middle of the room was one long table with short stools to sit on. No getting too comfy. But the food was outstanding. The young owners spoke good English and we met several others who were nearing the end of their walks. All had been walking the Camino Francés.