Padornelo to Tricastela

Today was a short day. After the 25 kilometer climb yesterday in the heat and humidity, we needed a bit of rest. We only walked 14 kilometers to the town of Tricastela which means three castles. Apparently there were three here at some time in the past but none exist today. One interesting thing about Tricastela is that most of the stone that went into the building of the cathedral in Santiago was obtained from quarries located here.

Today was all country and farm walking. In the morning we saw farmers bringing their cows in for the morning milking. They came at the farmers calling and if one seemed to be lagging behind too much then his dog moved them along to the milking barn. The views were breathtaking and at everywhere you looked there were fields and forests for as far as you could see. The old dry stacked rock walls around the fields have been there for hundreds of years and still do the job of keeping the livestock where they belong.

We passed multiple huge trees alongside the trail. We found out that they were Chestnut trees and were very old. 

This one is said to be over 100 years old with some of the original roots being up to 800 years old.

We were definitely in farming country. We often walked right through a farm and past the stone buildings and barns where the cows were being milked. It is hard to imagine that those same buildings have been standing there for hundreds of years and life in the villages is pretty much the same as it always has been with the addition of tractors and modern equipment.

There were often chickens along the path when we walked thorough the villages and the roosters seemed to take a particular interest in the passing pilgrims.

As always there were wild flowers everywhere we went. This one was a new one for us.

We made it to Tricastela by 1:30 PM and had a bit of lunch while we waited to be admitted to the Pension where we will be staying tonight. Savanna decided to try the fried squid. I tried a couple of pieces of it also and it was very good. A bit chewy but very tasty. I am more of a beef and potatoes kind of guy myself.

We were shown to our room so I will close this post for the night with a picture of what we are seeing out our window right now. The bell tower of the village church is a work of art in itself. I plan on getting a better picture of it on the way out of town in the morning.

Disregard the drying socks on the top of the window. They are a fact of life while walking the Camino. We wash out our sweaty socks and hang them up to dry each night. Clean dry socks means no blisters and no blisters makes for a happy pilgrim.

Until tomorrow, Buen Camino!