Via de la Plata day 43: Botos to Dornelas, 27.3 km

I didn’t write a post yesterday as the wireless data connection was a bit suspect. I even had to walk one km up the road to get a strong enough signal to renew my wireless plan! I only need it for three days, but for the convenience it’s worth the 15€ (the same cost as a menu del dia!)

Being a Sunday, nourishment was a scarcity, but after a couple of hours I sniffed out a bar for a first breakfast (cafe con leche & tostada, naturally!), and a couple of hours after that, a second breakfast. It was just as well, as the recommended albergue was in the middle of nowhere, but dinner was provided, but not until 8 pm. It was worth waiting for, but 27 km on a couple of coffees and toast is not something you want to do on a regular basis.

The day was more wonderful Galician countryside, with old stone hamlets, oak and chestnut forests, and ancient paths to walk along. But you can only take so many photos of these things. The notoriously moist weather held off again, although the early morning low cloud/mist almost (but not quite) required the deployment of the poncho.

Even though the albergue was seemingly in the middle of nowhere, way back the hamlet must have supported a reasonably sized community, judging by the 12th C church and the 20th C soccer field. It’s probably a while since the church was full for a service, and maybe even longer since they could find enough locals for a soccer game.

The albergue host was also a wood worker of significant ability, judging by the bar and bar stools that he created. The object in the corner of the photo is part of an antique wine press.

Due to its location the albergue offered dinner, which was very tasty – even more so as we’d all skipped lunch. But the highlight was when one of our peregrino companions picked up the guitar and sang a beautiful song for us. Here’s part of it (adding an audio file is new territory for me, so I hope it works!)