Ocean Views and Magic Shows
It was so, so, so pretty this morning! I left while it was still dark, but there was enough light from the city or the moon or the stars that I could make out shapes. There was a big mountain looming to my left. There was fog in the valley between. I could hear the creek in the valley. It was just such a pleasant walk!
I got coffee in hospital, since it was the ‘last service before Cee’ which was 14km away. The walk to Cee was actually really nice as well. There was no highway walking today! Just gravel path through the trees. It was rolling along a high plain, so I would get nice views regularly. There was a little food stand along the section, a ‘house’ from Finisterre doing donativo trail food. It was so good!!
It started to be obvious that the ocean was near. That sense that builds when the horizon is just a little different, and the air has a certain breeze. Sure enough I started to get glimpses of the ocean as the trail reached high points. Finally culminating in an arrival in Cee, which is a town on a beach. That was when the smell hit. That’s when you really know!
I got groceries in Cee. Fruit, yogurt, chocolate, all the heavy delicacies. I didn’t even want bread, but I bought a baguette when they were thrown in the shelf, fresh out of the oven in front of me. I only planned to go 2km past Cee to an Albergues called San Roque. The walk from Cee was very, very uphill, so I definitely noticed the weight of the grocery bag I had added to my load. It was neat though. It wasn’t a road or a Forest path, but more of an urban path. Stones set into the ground, alternating between ramp and stairs, only a shoulder-width wide, and bordered tightly by a stone wall. Neat.
The Albergue didn’t open until 4, and I got here at 2. Luckily, the yard of the Albergue is a massive Green Park. Plenty of trees to sprawl under. A playground, if you are so inclined. I got changed around back, did my laundry, hung my clothes. I didn’t sweat too much today, so I felt clean and cozy when I changed.
When it opened, the hosts were so nice! They are all Spanish-speaking only. Luckily there is an Irish girl here who can help translate for us. The host, Pepe, has a son living in Vancouver and was just in Montreal for a wedding. He was wearing a Canada pin. He got really excited that I was from Canada.
This place is just great. They are going to make us a dinner at 8, there is Tapas and wine at 7. Lights go out at 10, they come back on at 7:15. Breakfast is at 8. You don’t have to leave until 9.
It is all donativo.
…
There were only 4 girls here for the longest time, I thought maybe we’d have a ladies night! We chatted for the afternoon. More people have showed up now. The tapas was great, and the dinner was delicious. The chef made a cod dish that involved oranges and onions. Sounds like it wouldn’t work? Totally works! There are two guys from Mexico who showed up with bottles of wine to share, and melon, and Nutella, and cookies. I thought my grocery bag was heavy!? So nice of them.
I thought it was all over and I went upstairs to go to bed, but they called us back down for…a magic show!! Yeah, I’m not joking. The host did a magic show. He would do a spiel about the trick in Spanish, then there would be a flurry of chatter as various people translated it to the languages of the crowd. French, English, etc. Then he would keep going. The tricks were hilarious, and the whole show had a story.
I only have to walk 13km to get to Finisterre tomorrow, so I’m going to enjoy the sleeping in!
