Day 20: Tricastela

Mileage

We walked 13.4 miles from O'Cebreiro to Tricastela

Highlights

An early morning start has its perks!

Today was fabulous. We started our morning with coffee at the hotel down the street and ate hard boiled eggs that we purchased the night before. Energized, we started our mostly-downhill-with-a-few-surprising-uphill-sections day through farmlands. We didn't just walk by or near farms, we walked directly through them, which was a treat for my farm-loving mother. 

I took a video of the cows walking by and my mom said "Wow! Thank you so much for capturing that moment!" It truly made her day to be up close and personal to her favorite animal. 

Our first stop was at the top of a mountain. Yes, I thought we stayed at the top of the mountain last night, too. But, no, there was still more to go. My mom and I ordered a tuna empanada, which is basically a tuna calzone. We paid three euros and were shocked when the baker delivered us a slice that was approximately one square foot. Confused, I said I only ordered one slice of empanada to share with my mom, not the whole dang thing. He understood and said he gave me one slice. Awestruck, we split it up and saved half to snack on later. We were even more surprised when the next few customers came out with empanada slices 1/4 the size of ours. The baker winked. What could be better than a free enormous empanada?! Not much!

We arrived to Tricastela and checked into Lemos Hostel. We splurged on double room and felt like queens. The hostel had a lovely patio with comfortable lounge furniture, which was exactly what we had been needing. 

Rather than eating dinner out, Mom and I went to the grocery store and bought Spain's version of cup-o-noodles and beers. We enjoyed our dinners in bed while watching "Alvin and the Chipmunks" in Spanish. You might think that we've reached a new low, and in retrospect, it appears that way, but in the moment it felt like nothing could be better. 

A Trace of Grace

Notes from a trekking Mama

It's the little things that make me happy; cows beings herded past us on a narrow trail, a very generous serving of tuna empanada, a double room with soap in the shower, and a sunny area to dry clothes. A bag of chips and a beer added to the simple pleasures. Life is good and I am feeling super blessed.

I think she's hooked on this backpacking thing...