Sobrado dos Monxes

Hello, everyone.
We reached Sobrado dos Monxes in good time today, a walk of 25 km. We took a rest break a couple of times, at the places we found cafe-bars. As the internet here is being slow, there will be only one picture.
Point of information on the name of the town: the monastery here was founded in the tenth century as a pair of Benedictine monasteries. (One male and one female) About two centuries later, the Benedictine foundation apparently gone, the original donors' heirs offered the property to St. Bernard of Clairveaux for use as a Cistercian monastery. There were many ups and downs over the centuries and now there are about 20 Cistercian brothers living there. They welcome pilgrims in fulfillment of one of their long time customs.
The buildings were heavily damaged in the years after the Spanish kings confiscated all the male monasteries in Spain because not only were the brothers chased out, but the king's desire for funds led to sales of the properties seized. As a result the present church and cloister has needed much repair and almost of the previous furnishings remain.

The dome at the crossing of the nave.

Tomorrow we will walk to Arzua.
Ultreia.

85 kilometers left to walk

Hello,everyone.
I wanted to say WOO HOO but that is entirely premature. We have, however, begun to get two sellos per day.
It was cool this morning but not actually cold. The sum came out after a while and it's settled into a beautiful warm day with light breezes.
A little program note: we may not have wifi available tomorrow.
Tonight we are staying at the privately owned albergue in Miraz. It was a short travel day, but tomorrow is set to be 25 km so it all balances out.

This is the sculpture in the garden here.

 That's all for today.
Ultreia.

Baamonde!

Hello, everyone.
We walked 20 km today, in good weather. In Baamonde, the 100 kilometer town, we have found three cafes and 1 tiny grocery store.

The name of one of the cafes.

I will try to photograph the 100 km marker tomorrow on the way out.
Plan for tomorrow, 15 km to Miraz. Next day, 25 km to Sobrado dos Monjes. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Ultreia.

Vilalba

Hello, everyone.
We had a shorter walk today, about 20 km, and we are in a small hotel in Vilalba.

The Tower of the Counts of Vilalba

 This tower is unusual because it is still standing. In about the 13th century there were a lot of peasant revolts around Europe, Spain included, and many of the nobility's towers and castles were burned down. The tower has been converted into a Parador hotel.

Chapel of San Rocque in Vilalba

We had a fairly easy walk today, chilly sometimes, and got into town around 2 pm.
Tomorrow we will head towards Baamonde.
Ultreia.

Abedin: Xabarin albergue

Hello, everyone.
We walked 24 or 25 km today, a few big ups and downs and a slew of mostly even grade. We visited the cathedral of Mondonedo--not to miss if in the area--and ended up jn Abadin. We are at the albergue of Xabarin, a lovely modern facility with great showers, comfortable beds, and other nice amenities.
DH wants it mentioned ghat there were dome ddmandi g ups and downs. We saw the ruins of a fortification from the Spaniards' late unpleasantness of the 1930's, possibly an ancient stone construction,  and an abandoned mill. Also mang flowers.

 View of the area during our walk, around noon.

Mileage marker. The ones in Galicia include distances!

We see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Possibly 9 more days of walking.
We shall see.
Ultreia.

Lourenza

Hello, everyone.
As y'all may remember, we had a short day yesterday. We only covered about half of a usual distance. We did laundry at the laundromat (lavanderia) and went to bed early.
Today, it worked out that we made up for the short day--walking about 29 km. This part of the Camino del Norte is a bit like Highway 281 south of Falfurrias in one way. It's off in the middle of farms and not a whole lot of travelers' services. We were fortunate enough to be walking along the road when a friendly man in a car stopped. (No, he wasn't offering candy! Wash your mind out!) He gave us a flyer for a new albergue in Lourenza. Where we were pretty sure we would be sleeping anyway. The Albergue Castelos is new, and well thought out. We are in side by side bottom bunks, which have decent headroom for us.

The front of our albergue for today.

The weather continues cold (the news said it has been 10C colder than usual. Brrr!) And today we got no sunshine. But we're comfortable and hoping for a shorter day tomorrow.
Ultreia.

We have had two beautiful walking days in a row

Hello, everyone.
We have indeed had good walking mornings, actually for the mornings. I am coming to think that spring in northern Spain has daytime heating rainstorms. So if you are out walking just after sunrise and it's great weather, you should get your kilometers done before around three in the afternoon. After then, you might be caught in the daily drench.
Yesterday we walked from Villapedre to Tapia de Casariego, a smallish resort town on the coast.
I will admit that the online comments about the scenery blinded me. The municipal albergue at Tapia de Casariego does indeed have great views of the ocean, the rock beach, and the sky. It also has at most one washtub to do laundry. The clothesline is under the sky. Remember what I said about the afternoon rain? I ran like a crazy to get the things inside when it started!
Today we took a short day and are staying in Ribadeo.

No pictures today because Blogger put my pictures into limbo.
Tomorrow we turn away from the coast and begin angling southwest toward Santiago.
Ultreia.