Day 29 Lourenza to Albadin 25k

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Lorenza is a lonely small town, not much worth talking about. I am eager to start this day for 2 reasons. #1 it's the longest, highest and last major climb on the Camino. #2 it has the town of Mondonedo on its route which has a Cathedral that a National Cultural Historical Site. The days starts with low clouds, cool temps, and a real threat of rain again. It's a 2 hour climb to Mondonedo, I left at 7:30 and my B & B was not open. My first stop is for some breakfast. Odd to me no one serves a real breakfast in Spain, toast or croissant coffee or tea period, no eggs, no pancakes, no bacon no nothin. After tea and a croissant I head off looking for this wonderful Cathedral. I come to a rather simple church, in a crummy town and think, whoah, this is it? Big deal I seen much better Churches in smaller towns. I did notice a sign that points to "Cathedral Plaza". Well, maybe there is a difference between a Church and a Cathedral. Ya think? The town gets really cool, old cobble stone streets, nice old structures, cute shops then WOW! There it is, a real master piece saved from the destruction of war, built in 1230. The Cathedral is amazing with several different styles of architecture. The hand carved walnut pews are a master piece in wood carving. I take the self guided tour thru the Cathedral and its museum, takes about 1 hour, well worth the time. It's now 11:30 and I really need to start the climb, its 11K long and gains 2,470 Ft. Can't stall any longer. The climb is not that steep, to begin with. The clouds are 100 Ft above my head and rising as I walk up. I cannot see more than 100ft up but I can see down no problem. Its kinda cool, can't see whats ahead but I can see the great vista behind me. I am walking on a single car wide chip seal surface, very smooth and course. No cars to speak of except, those annoying white delivery vans driving at light speed. Thats a whole other story, seems in Spain you can get fresh bread, wine, cheese and some meat products delivered to your neighborhood. The white van guy halls ass on the old back roads plays a tune from the van (like an Ice cream guy in the US), and people jog out and pick up their stuff. Pretty cool except for the reckless drivers. Anyway I am walking up, up and up when I come across what appears to be an old woman walking with two canes up the hill. Wow, I think, good for her two canes and still walking, I am impressed. Just then that stinking white van whizz's past me, the lady stands off the road in a tiny paved area. The guy stops and hands her 3 bags of stuff and speeds off. Ahhh, here is my chance! I jog up to the women and offer to help, she is quite agreeable. We walk (at a snails pace) up the hill. She is asking me about my Camino, where did I start, what town did I like, hows the food, where do I live in the US, etc. She speaks a surprising amount of english, I ask where she learned, she told me she likes American music and learned some english from songs. It's less than 200 yards to her drive way, nice place, several houses on one property, must be several generations living there. As we approach her house a GIANT german shepherd jumps out from around the corner of the house and is straining on is anchor chain to eat me! Crap I hate these mean dogs. She bonks to dog smartly on his head and tells to get in his house, which he promptly did. Not the first time he has been bonked! She thanks me, lets me take her photo and I am on my way.

Its still very pleasant, cool, fog lifting, steady up hill climb but not killer. About one hour later I turn a corner and see 3 Pilgrims. Two girls and a guy, they are all cooling their feet in a stream. I walk past, say Hola and Bien Camino! Keep moving I think, long way to go. About a half hour later, I am going up a really steep hill and I hear some yelling behind me, reluctantly I turn around to investigate. It's the trio, waving and pointing to a trail NOT going up the hill. Crap did I miss the trail? I jog back to the junction and sure enough I made a wrong turn, clearly marked just missed it. I thank them and they ask me where I am from, I ask them the same. The girls are from Slovakia, Peter is from France. They all started in Bilbao. We start walking together and I notice one of the girls is wearing water sandals and limping. I ask about the limp ( they all speak english), and she explains that in yesterdays thunder storm her feet got wet and her feet slid around in her shoes a raised blisters. OK, stop, I got blister first ad stuff from my wife. I have a whole first aid kit in my pack. We stop and I bring out the blister band aids, elastic adhesive tape, ace bandage, all the right stuff to help her. She and her friend tape her feet up and we start again. Looking at their gear and listening to where they have been sleeping a trip to the Pharmacy was probably not in their budget. I tell her to keep all the first aid stuff I have more at the hotel. We walk on, chatting a bit, but I get eager to pick up the pace. We say goodbye and I move on. It was only about an hour to my town. Arriving at 5 pm, I am bushed that was a 10 hour day and 25 miles, but its over, all down hill to Santiago Whoopee!

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