Day 11 - Olveiroa to Cee
We had a good breakfast at the hostel and set out. The trip today would start with a short climb, but we could see from the map that near the end, there would be a descent of about 250 meters over two kilometers. I spent about the first half of the day's walk with Karen B and Bert. We saw plenty of windmills - some were spinning and some were not. Also some beautiful flowers, and something that looked like a cross between a flower and a mushroom!
At one place, we saw an interesting monument. We don't know quite what it is:
After a while, we encountered a woman who was walking at about the same pace as we were. She is from Quebec, and this is her sixth time walking El Camino de Santiago. She has used a different route each time. We chatted for while, and then she decided to wait for her friend. I went on ahead.
Some time after that - with about three kilometers to go - the descent from the hills to the oceans began. It was very similar to the very long climb that we had two days ago, except that this was a very long and steep drop. It was about 250 meters vertical over two kilometers. There would be a steep descent followed by a level stretch, then another descent and another level stretch. Long ago, I decided that I preferred to work with gravity rather than against it, so on the downhills, I went extremely fast - and happily, I was able to keep the poles moving as fast as my legs! I passed several people who looked at me in amusement, as if I were a downhill skier on a stone-and-sand road!
On this road, I saw a very long stone wall. I wonder how long ago it was built.
As I got near the bottom, I saw that the trees were changing. While the top of the hills were dominated by eucalyptus trees, oaks, and a few others - there were many pine trees at the bottom. There was also a small shrine whose picture I took:
Shortly afterwards came the beautiful view we've been waiting for - the western coast of Spain, and the village of Cee where we are staying tonight:
When I arrived at the edge of town, I saw a group of people gathered together, apparently planning their next steps. How happy I was to see that two of them were Oriol and Mery, whom I spent many hours with yesterday (and whose names I can now spell correctly). We continued together until reaching our hotels.
In fact, we met again a few hours later, when I was returning from the market (to get tomorrow's Gatorade and other snacks). This time, we exchanged e-mail addresses, so I hope that we will be able have a lasting friendship.
Late Evening Update: After dinner, we were watching a soccer game with Real Madrid on TV, and saw Christiano Ronaldo score a goal! For those who aren't soccer fans - he is one of two or three players that "everyone" in the world should have heard of - like LeBron James, or Serena Williams. We don't see him on American TV much!
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| Windmill |
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| Bert is coming down the road as Karen awaits |
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| The color of the landscape |
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| Probably a mushroom - possibly a flower? |
At one place, we saw an interesting monument. We don't know quite what it is:
After a while, we encountered a woman who was walking at about the same pace as we were. She is from Quebec, and this is her sixth time walking El Camino de Santiago. She has used a different route each time. We chatted for while, and then she decided to wait for her friend. I went on ahead.
Some time after that - with about three kilometers to go - the descent from the hills to the oceans began. It was very similar to the very long climb that we had two days ago, except that this was a very long and steep drop. It was about 250 meters vertical over two kilometers. There would be a steep descent followed by a level stretch, then another descent and another level stretch. Long ago, I decided that I preferred to work with gravity rather than against it, so on the downhills, I went extremely fast - and happily, I was able to keep the poles moving as fast as my legs! I passed several people who looked at me in amusement, as if I were a downhill skier on a stone-and-sand road!
On this road, I saw a very long stone wall. I wonder how long ago it was built.
As I got near the bottom, I saw that the trees were changing. While the top of the hills were dominated by eucalyptus trees, oaks, and a few others - there were many pine trees at the bottom. There was also a small shrine whose picture I took:
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| A few of many pine trees |
Shortly afterwards came the beautiful view we've been waiting for - the western coast of Spain, and the village of Cee where we are staying tonight:
When I arrived at the edge of town, I saw a group of people gathered together, apparently planning their next steps. How happy I was to see that two of them were Oriol and Mery, whom I spent many hours with yesterday (and whose names I can now spell correctly). We continued together until reaching our hotels.
In fact, we met again a few hours later, when I was returning from the market (to get tomorrow's Gatorade and other snacks). This time, we exchanged e-mail addresses, so I hope that we will be able have a lasting friendship.
Late Evening Update: After dinner, we were watching a soccer game with Real Madrid on TV, and saw Christiano Ronaldo score a goal! For those who aren't soccer fans - he is one of two or three players that "everyone" in the world should have heard of - like LeBron James, or Serena Williams. We don't see him on American TV much!
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