As we stretch our legs, we stretch our minds and our souls. St. Augustine, himself a great walker, remarked, “Solvitur ambulando; it is solved by walking.”- Julia Cameron in Walking in This World

Day 17

I am a little sad to leave the gorgeous town of Combarro… but we head out and straight up. And up. It’s another one of THOSE days… and we’ve been warned several times that it is a difficult.

We miss a waymarker and some construction workers called out to us that we had missed a turnoff… and we are very grateful. We meet another pilgrim Adi (who has just missed it as well)… who spends half her life in Israel and half in London and we walk with her much of the way today. 

From the beginning, the trail is a steady fairly steep climb above the village… through narrow residential lanes but the higher we climb, the more rural it becomes… and we walk past medieval homes and hórreos…

… stone walls and crosses…

… through quiet roads, vineyards and woodlands… and of course the ever present wildflowers…

… literally for about 7 kilometres. Up all the way. We take it slowly, with regular stops to turn back to admire the breathtaking view (and catch our breath)!

It is a lovely walk, much of it through forest and quite shaded, which is great as it has become quite hot again with a high of 28° expected today. Anne does really well despite the challenging and ongoing hill and it really isn’t as bad as we were led to believe.

We also meet up again on the trail with our family of “heroes of the day” from a little earlier in our walk- Sam and Eddie, with their kids Issy and Olivia. Still going strong and having a ball. 

But what goes up must come down and  the path begins to drop, mostly through forest trails… but just before it ended, it dropped dramatically into a steep and very rocky descent- virtually impossible for a family with two kids and a pram. It was very tricky and we were thankful to be with Sam and Eddie to be their Camino angels for today and help them down. The Camino always provides. What amazing parents to take their kids on such an adventure and teach them that there is a big wide wonderful world out there.

While they continue on the road, we turn off on the trail and cross a charming little bridge over a stream.

We then take the quaint path all the way to our destination: the tiny village of Armenteira.

It’s hardly even a village with no downtown area; only the Café Bar O Comercio (our lunch and dinner spot since it’s the only place in town), a few stone homes, and Armenteiras’ claim to fame: the beautiful ancient Cistercian monastery, the Monasterio de Armenteira.

This wonderful place, tucked away in a serene green valley, is a place that transmits peace and spirituality, where you can only hear the sound of the spring water gushing, in harmony with nature. It offers a peaceful respite for tired pilgrims and is run by a group of Cistercian nuns who continue to maintain the monastic traditions of offering a place of peace, prayer, and reflection. In hindsight, I wish we had decided to stay here… I think it would have been lovely… although you can’t book ahead… you just have to take your chances of still having rooms available when you arrive (this is the traditional way of the Camino but too stressful for us). 

There was an immediate sense of other-worldliness as we arrive by the cross in the courtyard of the 12th century monastery…

… although it is busy as they have a wedding happening in the church. The building’s impressive Romanesque architecture, is crowned by the magnificent carved rose window of the cathedral that illuminates the interior.

We walk around the cloister that always seem to create a sense of sanctuary and separation from the outside world. I love these places. 

Later, we visit the church once the wedding is over….

And then have the very special privilege of attending the daily pilgrims blessing hosted by the cloistered nuns. Beautiful and emotional and a perfect ending to a lovely day. 

Steps today- 20,426

Kilometres today- 13.78

Flights climbed- 18

Temperature- 28°