San Roman to Genevilla - over two days.

By
We had a bed in a truckies hotel on the outskirts of San Roman.  It was comfortable and quiet - in our room, but downstairs it was noisy and boisterous.

We didn't rush departure on the next day as there was a heavy mist and the path went up another mountain, and our guidebook said to take care as we were to walk beside a ravine.  As it turned out, the sun had burned the mist away by the time we reached the top, and the translation in our notes was not quite accurate.  We had visions of walking along a ridge with sharp drops on either side, but instead we walked along the edge of what Julie and I decided were precipitous cliffs.  This was a beautiful walk indeed - stunning views, silence - apart from the occasional bird call, and pleasant temperatures.  The notes we had warned us that the signs were difficult to follow, but we kept our wits about us and all was well except in one tricky spot.
Looking back towards San Roman with the mist still thick in the valley
Just one view from near the edge of the cliff
Crocus growing on the cliff edge, and, looking beyond across the valley.  San Roman would be on the left just out of sight.
Still on the cliff edge. The grass looked like it had been mown and the trees clung on very close to the edge.
It was at this point that we lost the signs momentarily as Pam and Julie try to see one - in vain.  We ended up crossing the meadow in the top left of the picture, and eventually picked up the trail.

This was a pretty tough day, because in addition to the cliff top walk we had to slither our way up the mountain, for over a kilometre, through some heavy clay mud which made us not only very dirty, but also quite a bit taller!

We ended the day at a delightful agritourismo abode in Alda, hosted by Faustino.  Here we had a restful night as there was nothing to do except eat, sleep, and talk.  We spent a bit of time with Phillippe, the French pilgrim who left on the same day as us.
Our Casa Rural, our agritourismo accommodation for the night.

We left this morning at about 9.00am, with our destination being Genevilla.  Today's walking has been pretty easy as we have mostly been in sheltered forests.  It is so much easier to walk in shade when the sun is boring down.
Heading towards San Vicente.
San Vicente in the early morning light.
The mountains around here have quite sheer rock cliffs.

Some of the forests were Holm Oak, and walking into the village of Santa Cruz de Campezo we put two and two together and worked out why the houses are so big.  The first thing we noticed was a kennel with many truffle dogs.  We saw one of them being trained.  We also noticed a number of properties that had a Holm Oak "forest" as their front, fenced garden.  We decided the only reason to have such a garden would be to hunt for truffles!  Certainly the town seems quite well off.
Walking through the Holm Oak forest.
Julie walking in Santa Cruz

Tonight we are in another Casa Rural and have just returned from a "secret" restaurant where we had one of the best pilgrim meals I have ever had.  We called it "secret" because our host escorted us to it where upon he knocked on the door and we were ushered in!

Bed calls.  The others are asleep as I write, now it's my turn.



Comments

  1. Kiwi Nomad23 September 2016 at 03:37

    More beautiful landscapes, and interesting looking town. Thanks for sharing this Janet.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Santiago de Compostela, & adios

By
Image
As promised, at the bottom of this post are the places I stayed at and for those who like this kind of information, the cost.  Note that the distances given are what I made on my "route tracker" app.  As this is not as accurate as the systems surveyors use there could be as much as 10% discrepancy.  Distances are from bed to bed too which may affect the final measurement, as does the way I walked to that bed - sometimes on a very circuitous route! Well, I have had three lovely days and four nights in Santiago de Compostela, one of my favourite cities.  When I left it after my first Camino in 2005 I remember standing in the beautiful Praza Obradoiro, looking at the Cathedral in the pink of a splendid sunrise, and thinking "well it's been great, but I'll never be back here again'.  Six visits later, it has lost none of its charm for me, and I have visited for longer, and more often than Sydney! Pilgrims contemplating their achievements in the square.
Read more

A new journey begins

By
Wandering Yet Again Tuesday, 20 March 2018 The journey begins Well I am off yet again.  This pilgrimage route is a different one, the Via Romea Germanica, and one I am really looking forward to.  It follows the journey made by Abbot Albert from Stade, around 40kms north east of Hamburg, to Rome.  Along the way I will be crossing several routes I have taken before, finally joining the Via Francigena for the last few days into Rome. In round figures I am anticipating walking in the vicinity of 2,300kms.  From my research I think the first week or two will be quite flat, gradually rising as I move through Bavaria and on into Austria.  In Italy the path is flat as I traverse the path around the River Po, before rising steeply to cross the Apennines.  From there, heading south through Tuscany, there are numerous hill
Read more

Monforte de Lemos to Rodeiro.

By
Image
The past two days have been wonderful.  The weather continues to be fine, sometimes hazy, but the sun always shining, and the scenery continues to delight.  The walking has been strenuous at times, but the sights more than make up for it.  Thankfully, the dogs have improved, or I should say, the control of them has.  The big, scary ones have all been either on a chain, or behind a high fence.  I left Monforte de Lemos in fog, but as the day progressed the sun burnt it off and it was a lovely day. I wasn't paying attention as I left Monforte de Lemos , and just missed injuring myself on this abnormally low slung overhang! Looking through the fog. I met this handsome pair at A Vide , on the way out of Monforte de Lemos. Chantada , my next stop after Monforte de Lemos, was a beautiful town.  The buildings were interesting and the people caring and helpful.  My guide notes said it had arcaded streets, and on chatting with the hotel receptionist I learnt that these &qu
Read more