I’m staying in an albergue in O’Cebreiro tonight with Hunter. The dormitory-style bund beds are pushed together which gives the impression of a double king bunk bed which is the height of pilgrim “luxury.” This is our first encounter with the Galicean style of albergue which provides a push-to-pump shower with no door and a refrigeratorless kitchen void of pots, pans or silverware. It’s interesting to see this type of government-subsidized refuge for people traveling the Camino that cuts corners and thus, cuts costs to the government. I, in fact had to pay a euro more than usual for my stay tonight. These are in no way complaints, merely observations! I don’t require much anymore to cheer me up along the way, warm showers regardless of doors make me happy! The fact that there is a kitchen and running water at all automatically puts me a step ahead of our nights out in the tent! It’s comfortably warm inside which is very nice as well. With the high altitude, being out of the wind is fantastic. We originally were only going to stop because Queen Isabella stayed in a hostel in town, but after asking around we came to learn that the location she took refuge is unfortunately closed. My mother wrote the only unbiased, well-researched biography there is on the market on Isabella and I was hoping to have the opportunity to understand her mindset a little better. I am enjoying this town more than I expected I would despite the buses full of tourists mobbing around us and asking for pictures of “real peregrinos!” or simply photographing us without permission as we attempted to focus on the success of our ascent or the bountiful history and culture exuding from the area. We surrendered our efforts fairly quickly, having been swarmed by flashes and a plethora of languages trying to explain what it must be like to be pilgrims or how amazing it is that we’d try and walk all the way to Santiago. After leaving our packs at the albergue we climbed up another small hill above the town and enjoyed the wind and the birds and the sunshine on our skin. The view made it look as though you’re on top of the whole world with hills and mountains as far as you can see, all the way from Ponferrada to what I assume must be the town we’ll arrive in tomorrow. We feasted to an amazing pilgrim’s menu meal of spaghetti and roasted chicken and shared a bottle of wine with Nate. It’s been a lovely day! 20k tomorrow!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I’m staying in an albergue in O’Cebreiro tonight with Hunter. The dormitory-style bund beds are pushed together which gives the impression of a double king bunk bed which is the height of pilgrim “luxury.” This is our first encounter with the Galicean style of albergue which provides a push-to-pump shower with no door and a […] Continue reading