Day 17
Wow – what a day! Walked almost nonstop from before 8 until 4. A quick break for lunch (tomato on toast) and later for a cup of coffee. My step counter says it was over 50,000 steps. I think that’s a personal best.
Today in two words: timeless & damp.
The day started with a fine mist so I didn’t think much of it and it built in intensity until it was, as Forest Gump would say in a slow, Southern accent, “a sideways rain.” By then I was already soaked thru so it would have been pointless to put on a rain poncho. It would just have created a mobile steam room. I’d pinned a pair of socks to my daypack hoping they would finish drying on my walk. It just wasn’t going to happen.
On the way out of Negreira I walked past this amazing sculpture. I didn’t see a sign but it appears to be possibly a tribute to migrant workers. If it’s not and you know the story, please let me know. Regardless, really nicely done.
Because of the clouds and rain, the absence of direct sun blurred the time of day. 9 AM looks like 3 PM when the temperature is constant and you can’t tell where the sun is.
The scenery was consistently wet, green, and fragrant. Lots of smells hit me today. The damp fern and moss musky smell, the combo of pine and eucalyptus in the forests, and the sweetest smell – this might sound odd – was the smell of hay combined with the cows who only eat sweet hay, grass, and clover.
There were no townspeople out for leisurely walks today to tell me when I was getting close to a town. But, it occurred to me that in these parts I can tell I’m getting close to civilization when I smell cows. Farmers don’t house them too far from their own homes as they need to feed, check, and milk them regularly. Mid morning I passed this small herd of longhorn cattle. They’re truly regal.
I also saw the biggest slug I think I’ve ever seen in my life. Clearly he’s got plenty to eat. After taking this picture I flicked him off the path into the ferns. If a bike hit him it would have been just gross.
About 2:30 I climbed to the top of a giant hill and, to my surprise, got my first view of the ocean. This was taken by a fellow pilgrim. I returned the favor.
Not far after this shot, on the way down the other side of the hill, I heard a seagull for the first time this walk.
Made it to my destination just after 4. I’d sent my pack ahead to an albergue. I remembered to take a picture of the tag this time. But this time the albergue was closed. A neighbor saw me and knew where the pack had been dropped. The local networks here are amazing.
Got a bed in an albergue off of the main path, got cleaned up, and then since my socks on my daypack never dried I decided to splurge and wash today’s laundry, my jacket and sarong, and ALL my socks. Hand washing is just sub-par (at least the way I do it) and since they have a dryer as well – it’s worth the extra few euros to start tomorrow with clean, dry socks.
Once the dryer finishes I think I’ll look for dinner somewhere nearby. Then sleep!
More later…
Well done you! At the sea and wet as well. What a huge effort. Below is what I could find on the statue. Definitely worth more info at the site itself.
Why do cows wear bells? Because their horns don’t work. (topically relevant joke)
I don’t think that slug was real, but made of liquorice! But who would eat it? Something from Harry Potter maybe.
Monument to the emigrant
This work by Fernando García Branco from 1997, composed of stone and bronze, is located in the square next to the Chapel of San Mauro, near the Pazo de Cotón, before crossing its arches leaving the center of Negreira.
With it, they honor the many emigrants who had to leave the area in search of a better life for themselves and their loved ones.
This monument is made up of three characters who represent a fact. A man with his small luggage and a serious and determined face walks away from home, leaving his family behind. From the other side of the stone wall, a crying child, his son, although he grabs his pants from the window to hold him so that he does not leave.
Beyond the wall that represents the home and Planet Earth is the other scene of representation: the woman and mother, holding in her arms a smaller child whom she comforts and caresses
I’ve been following your travels, Sis! The statue of the man with the family on the other side of the wall in Negreira is reportedly a tribute to emigration. As the story goes, the family is in the house, and the man has packed his bag to find more promising work elsewhere.