Whiplash

If I could sum up today with one word it would be, whiplash. We went from the peaceful serene mountains to the hustle of the city. From 3 degrees to 28 and from valleys to vineyards.

Let’s start at the beginning …

We woke up and the pension was enveloped by in clouds. It was damp and cool as we hiked the last 2km up to the highest peak of this journey, at 1,504 m.

The famous iron cross, atop a pillar surrounded by stones, was our next stop. This is a type of shrine. The Cruz de Ferro. A special area where people have long left the stone they’ve carried throughout their journey or pictures or messages. This is also where I intended to leave the picture I brought with me of my father. But as I was looking around at all the other messages and photos, I just couldn’t part with it. Instead I stood there heavy hearted with so many tears in my eyes I could hardly walk down the mountain of stones in front of me without tripping.

The walk descended from there and into the distance we could see snow covered mountains. The views, were magnificent but I can’t even describe them to their credit. We entered the next village, Manjarín, which is nestled into the mountainside. There is an outdoor lavatory on one side of the road and we can smell the aroma of wood burning from the little stone house across the street. Here 2 men will welcome you into their home and you can enjoy a cup of hot coffee, visit with their cat, have your Camino passport stamped and take a rest. This town is worth mentioning, not only because of these two interesting people but because they are also the only people who live here The rest of the village has been in ruins for years.

It was a long strenuous walk down through rocky, somewhat dangerous terrain. I like a challenge but this was pushing it quite a bit. We went up and down and then back up… up… up… and then UP… As far as the eye can see were sensational views. We were literally above the clouds. I found myself singing “the hills are alive with the sound of music.” The last scene in the movie as they are crossing Austria, those were the views we saw today. We were Julie Andrews and the Von Trapp children crossing the mountains. Breathtaking, and worth every minute of the walk just to be here.

As we were walking down this extremely steep path we walked into several more isolated yet very charming villages. Who lives here? … as we approached Ponferrada I have to admit it was a culture shock. We went from crossing picturesque, serene mountain into a warm micro climate with vineyards on one side of the street and modern houses on the opposite. Kind of surreal.

Today, a truly magical time.