Ahora, Tenemos los Credenciales

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We are now official Pilgrims! In order to be an official "Pilgrim," a person must obtain "credentials," a sort of passport that one gets stamped in the cathedrals along the route. Because we are taking the route in reverse, we were not able to obtain the official credentials until this afternoon, when we talked with the friar at a monastery, received the official passport and got our first stamp (which, believe me, we had earned after traipsing up a very steep hill twice).

Today began with our getting lost but taking advantage of the "lostness" to see Vilar de Donas, a Romanesque church in a VERY SMALL community about 3 km off route. Though it was not officially open yet, a local man, who spoke NO English, gave us a very thorough tour, explaining the symbolism of the arches, the frescoes, and the effigies of the Knights of the Order of Sanitago. At least, I think that's what he was explaining.

We then followed some very narrow roads, generally paralleling the pilgrims a pie (walking). Must have seen 500 of them and perhaps 100 cyclists. Of interest, the cyclists are generally men while we believe that females outnumber the males on the walking trail itself. In Ligonde, the only narrow street into the town was being paved -- barely room for the concrete trucks, let alone the pilgrims on foot and on cycles. Later, we found ourselves on a major road with very little traffic and lots of climbing lanes!! Wish Lady and the Tramp were equipped with altimeters; it would be interesting to know how many kms. we spend climbing each day.

Tonight we are in the city of Sarria, a fairly large town with a large number of hostels, a few hotels, and this one campground that provides free hot showers, free Wi-Fi (here pronounced as Wee Fee), and a restaurant for under 12 euros a night. We did not eat here, however; we walked a couple of kms. into town and had the Pilgrims' Plato del dia, which has become our one good meal a day as the rest of the time it's just bread and cheese or whatever I can find in my pannier.

Tomorrow it's on to O Cebreiro, which will involve considerable climbing up a mountain noted for its height and its bad weather. If we are still feeling strong at the top, we may continue on to Travadelo.

The clothes we washed last night have just about dried tonight, and Bill just returned from doing some bike maintenance, so even Lady and the Tramp are smiling tonight. Besides, I bought Bill a can of Pepsi today -- all is right with our little part of the world. God has truly blessed us!

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Photos

Mosteiro da Madalena
This is where we bought our "credentials" for the cycling of the Camino de Compostela.

Sarria
Sarria town marker on the Camino de Compostela