Camino del Norte Day 41: Miraz to Sobrado dos Monxes

As we have become accustomed to sleeping in until around 8am (since the sun comes up at 8:30) we were rather surprised to have the lights turned on by the hospitaleros at 7am. Actually, this did not even wake me from my deep slumber, so I awoke at 7:30 rather shocked to see almost everyone was already out of the dormitory. I stumbled to the kitchen for coffee and managed to grab one piece of bread before they ran out. The weather was very cold and a thick fog blanketed the countryside. We loitered around as long as we could, but finally went on our way around 8:15, bundled up in all our layers. The fog was unbelievable and the remote landscape extremely beautiful. The tops of the pine trees looked like eerie ghosts towering above us in the morning silence.

That was the best part of the day, the rest of the day was mainly along a paved road. While the scenery was pleasant, we find ourselves becoming impatient with the monotonous landscape and antsy to arrive. After two days with almost no services, it was nice to arrive to Sobrado, which has grocery stores, restaurants and all major services. We arrived at the impressive 10th c monastery about 10 min. after 2pm. The building is truly massive and awe-inspiring. However, we sadly learned that reception is closed from 2pm until 4:30pm, so we had almost 2.5 hours to wait before getting a bed and shower. Luckily, the warm sun was shining and I lay down on the soft grass and took a long and lovely nap. Dave, every industrious, got out the computer and wrote some emails, then we headed to a café for some wifi and two cañas of Estrella Galicia (the local beer).

The albergue finally opened and we got our bed and I went to the grocery store to get our dinner supplies. We cooked another pasta feast in the well-equipped kitchen. While the dorm is a bit crowded here, the ambiance of the historic building is really cool.

Tomorrow, we finish the Camino del Norte! We will arrive in Arzúa and join the Camino Francés for two days to Santiago. I am planning to take the bus back to Palas del Rei to walk two extra days with my mom, while Dave plans to stay in Arzúa and get some work done for his upcoming work contract.

My mom arrived to Sarria today, and has completed 150km with about 100 to go!