Bill Arney

A pleasant day out of Lugo. Chilly in the morning wind but easy walking. The hills of Galicia are low rolling and green. Maples and oaks are beyond buds which makes the forested hillsides patchworks of greens.

I walked much of the way with Sophie from Chinon, France. She has put together her Camino to Santiago a week at a time over the last eight years. She started at the door to her house in 2009 and will reach her ultimate destination in a few days. There were two Dutch fellows who did the same. When someone asked how long they had been walking,  one said,  “Right now, one week, but twenty years.” Twenty years of long distance walking together. Eleven years ago they decided to make the Camino, but the birth of a child disrupted that plan. Seven years ago, they began in the Netherlands and walked two weeks a year. Yesterday their families,  including the 11 year old, plan-disrupting son, joined them in Lugo for the final 100 km to Santiago. Many stories out here.

In Ponte Ferreira in a nice albergue on the patio in the still-high sun, which doesn’t set until 9:30 pm tonight, waiting for the 7:45 dinner bell. Will leave the Primitivo tomorrow afternoon to join the Frances for the last days into Santiago.