I had a quiet evening in Villafranca. I attended mass at the Collegiate Church of Sancta Maria. The big catherdrals in Spain have an unusual feature. Plonked right in the middle of the building is is the Choir. This is an elaborate double set of seats for the monks to chant the Divine Office etc. The seats are huge, carved in wood, and the choir contains high walls around it / the effect is a huge bulding plonked right in the middle of the church. All this is to explain my experience at mass. Here was another big church built for some nobleman, and it serves as the parish churcxh in VIllafrance and it also has a CHoir right in the middle. Here the parish priest uses the choir for weekday masses, just as we use the transept in St Johns for mass. Normally these choirs are blocked off, so it was interesing to bein the middle of it.
Friday dawns and a challemge lies ahead. The walk today will be 20km of gentle ascents and then 7km of very steep ascents with all sorts of warnings. I thought I would see how it goes. So I set off and and started walking. The route followed the N6 and the new highway called A6. It was a stunnung evironment in the foothills of the mountains, and often the roads and highways were immense bypasses towering above us. I passed through various towns and finally reached Vega.... at 17km. Here I had to decide- sleep over here or press on - and I decided to poress on. I went through a few more villages and then reached Hospital de Inglezes. I passed through the few houses, crossed a bridge, and then there on the road was written - HELL BEGINS HERE. And it was true. The path began a steep ascent.And rose. And continued. forever it seemed. Never did 7 km feel so long. We were walking through forests and the path was constanting twist and turning - spiralling higher and higher. So you could not see your destination - just this steep path going higher and higher. With legs burning we plodded on.
Walking along paths in Spain, there are always plants, flowers, green stuff, on the verge. THere are lots of this yellow bush - almost tree - with small yellow flowers and as I pass I get a whiff of perfume. There are plants with the frangrance of vanilla/lemon/baking and I do a double take looking for the kitchen. There are some other fragent plants, including lavender. Walking up this steep path I will always assosaciate with a frangrance - not of perfume or vanilla but of cow dung. This is cow country, and they regularly walk this path and every couple of metres come the fragrant whiff of cow dung, and it comes with a quick side step to avoid standing in it.
THe slog upwards continued, and it took over 3 hours before I reached the top and the village of O Cebreiro and shout - we have triumphed.
I felt really chuffed that I had made. Checked into the albergue, and found my Kiwi friends - Rod and Debs- there. So we had a earrly supper and soon bunked down for awell earned rest.
I still am not eating very much as my stomach is slowly coming right. At supper I could only eat half as much as usual. I probably lost a couple of kilos these last few days - so things cant be all that bad.
So that is the triumph of O Cebreiro. We are now in Galicia - it is downhill from here.
Adios.
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