Days 27 and 28 on the Camino Frances, Triacastela to Sarria

Day 27 was a Sunday, and the day daughter Ciera was supposed to arrive and meet me at Tricastella. BUT, this was rural Spain, and the buses didn’t run on Sundays. I was not sure she would make it. I waited around for hours, and finally I saw a van pull up to my hotel. Several people got out, but not Ciera. The van drove past me, and as it did Ciera and I saw each other. We got her situated in the room, and we roamed around town looking for dinner. Ciera had the secret to eating Spanish bread, which could be pretty hard. You put oil and vinegar in a plate, and soak the bread in it. That made it delicious!

We walked around town, and with Ciera’s architect eye we checked out the old buildings.

The next morning was Ciera’s first day of walking, and we headed off to Sarria in cool morning air and lots of fog and dew.

I showed Ciera my habit of walking for a few hours before breakfast, and we had breakfast of eggs and bacon, coffee and OJ after an hour or so. We gained the top of a hill, and saw wonderful clouds in the lush valley below. The bushes were wet with dew in the morning, and I saw the perfect spider web, and tried to get a picture of it. We also saw the snails climbing grasses below, and we wondered what plan they had when they got to the top of the grass.

We finally got in to Sarria, and I bought a new pair of pants at a pilgrim store, and Ciera put in a hem in them. My old pants were pretty beat up, had holes in the pockets, and were hanging in bunches off my belt. I had lost some weight. Sarria is an industrial town, with little notice taken of the Camino going through town. Our hotel room was by the river, and we found some food at a cafe on the other side of the river. The place was named Albergue Puente Ribeira, and was comfortable but more industrial than rustic. As you can see below, nobody knows the suffering of the pilgrim. The side dish was Ciera’s favorite, melon and ham. The walk from Tricastella to Sarria was 18.3 km, 11.4 miles.