Route: Alto do Poio – Triacastela
Distance: 16 km (Total: 611 km)

Just as I mentioned earlier we passed the evening at Albergue de la Puerta in Alto do Poio in a very nice atmosphere. I admit I really like the Galician Spanish accent. I feel like I am in Portugal. The only difference is I can understand most everything here. The people here are very kind, warm and cook well. They also have a great sense of humor. Last night I got so lost in my story telling in Spanish that I forgot Henry was with us and he could not understand our jokes. Gladly he was not bothered by this. Juan showed him a language app called DuoLingo. All you have to do is to type in a certain sentence in your base language and it will translate it into a language of your choice. They had great fund using that app to communicate with each other as both of them could not understand either English and Spanish, respectively.

Leaving the bar shortly after midnight we could see the snowstorm had just begun.

I expected nothing less in the morning but to see some snow outside. And that’s how it was.

Descending Alto do Poio. Film

I am so glad we climbed all the mountain tops yesterday. Today it is going to be mostly downhill. We will walk along the main road, since the trails are covered in snow and may be hard to hike. We will have to extend the distance a bit because of it today.

Walking at a brisk pace we get to Triacastela in about 2,5 h. We are not sure if we stay here for the night yet.

What catches my attention is that names are written in Gallego language not Spanish. That is why church is not longer called iglesia, but igrexa.

The day before we find out from the snow plough drivers that today they have an octopus fesitval in this city. After getting there we look for the venue to have so called pulpo for lunch. Finally we locate the place on the ouskirts under a tent. There are no people as yet. It is too cold for the locals. After a brief photo session with the octopus we get three consecutive plates of this delicious creature brought to the market from the port of La Coruña.

Octopus festival in Triacastela. Film

Octopus preparation. Film

After some debate we decide to stay in town for the night. There are not too many sleeping options, basically none, between Triacastela and the next major city of Sarria. This makes our decision easier. I can use some good rest today after days of extended walks. I can also use the opportunity to catch up with this blog as well.

After all it is nice to sit by the fire and rest a bit.

Answering a few questions about the level of traffic on this blog let me share a few. First of all, thanks to the stats provided by WordPress I know the whole additional daily workload to write this blog is worth it.

The website gets between 100 to 200 plus visits per day by 30 to 50 different users from scores of countries. If all goes well we will hit a milestone of 100 000 visits on this blog by the time I get to Santiago. Thank you for keeping me company along the way.

Mediation XXIII. Thoughts.

My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts

Iz 55, 8

For the thoughts of mortal men are miserable, and our devices are but uncertain. For the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthy tabernacle weigheth down the mind that museth upon many things.

Book of Wisdom 9, 14-15

Recently I have been coming back quite often to the quoted wisdom in some of the earlier posts on how eventually our desitiny is determined but our thoughts? How to achieve a better control of our thoughts, so called nepsis?

This is not easy. I notice, however, that prayer and physical work do help. St. Benedict discovered it so long ago. Ora et Labora, Pray and Work, is their motto still today.

To liberate from passions that constantly are tearing us apart and think like God.

Fuge, tace et quiesce …