Here Comes The Sun

Midday sun and blue skies over the Convento de la Madalena in Sarria (1st pic)...

... and late afternoon sun just before the tiny hamlet of Ferrerios (2nd and 3rd pics).

I am reminded of how José, the hospitalero in Ruitelán, had played the Beatles song Here Comes The Sun in his albergue, though he woke us up next morning with Italian opera...

O'Cebreiro

Time passes slowly up here in the mountains/We sit beside bridges and walk beside fountains/Catch the wild fishes that float through the streams/Time passes slowly when you're lost in a dream BOB DYLAN Time Passes Slowly from New Morning

The next 2 days, 11 and 12 December, were magical days. We climbed steeply from Ruitelán up to O'Cebreiro - Paul, Ezequiel and I. It was cold and frosty. There were blue skies. The sun illuminated distant misty valleys and fold upon fold of hills (1st pic). O'Cebreiro was a very special place, a high point of the journey both physically and emotionally. We entered the old, grey-stone church of Santa Maria Real. I had my credencial or pilgrim passport stamped. An organ softly played. We sat down for a while. I must have prayed in a vague sort of way. Unspecific thoughts and feelings hovered like ghosts on the border of my conscious and unconscious mind. Then I lit candles in memory of my mother and sister. I took a photo of a pilgrim statue (2nd pic). And outside took a photo of 2 more pilgrims (3rd pic).

Ponferrada to Ruitelán

It was hard to miss the Camino exhibition in the basilica at Ponferrada (1st pic).

It was 9 December and I was feeling very tired, so after walking only half a day I turned in early at the Hostal La Gallega in Cacabelos. The next day I felt fine - it's amazing what a good night's sleep will do. I set out in good spirits, passing through the isolated village of Valtuille de Arriba (the 2nd pic shows some of its tumbledown houses) and arriving in picturesque Villafranca del Bierzo, which nestled in a sheltered valley. A rainbow arced over slopes of vines.

From there it was up into the mountains again, along a path which shadowed the valley road and the rio Valcarce. I climbed higher and higher, and eventually reached the albergue at Ruitelán, where I was welcomed by José, the hospitalero. Later 2 more pilgrims arrived - Paul from Belgium and Ezequiel from Palencia in Spain.