The beginning of the end!

I am sitting in the huge, semi dark, upstairs dormitory of the refuge in Baamonde.  The sun has yet to rise, though it is now half light outside.  People are starting to stir, quietly, for a change and I would imagine that very soon the place will be buzzing.  Downstairs a few people have gathered for breakfast, but I will go to the bar a few doors down for mine.  Downstairs is where most people are sleeping - it is only the overflow and the latecomers, like me, who are upstairs.

Downstairs are two French women, two Swiss men, an American, and two Germans all walkers, along with a solitary Spanish cyclist, while upstairs I have shared the room with an older German man and a Czech couple.  I feel very sorry for the Czech woman as she has very bad tendonitis.  How do I know?  I can tell by the way she hobbles, because I have hobbled in exactly the same way!  I would like to be able to help her with some of the tips I have learned, but unfortunately I am not able to communicate with her at all, and from what I can gather neither can anyone else, which is unfortunate.

The albergue at Baamonde.

 The first stop of the day!  Cafe con leche and whatever is on offer for breakfast! 

Yesterday was a glorious day, walking past farms and through woodlands.  All along this part of Galicia the settlements are more spread out.  On the Meseta the farmhouses are gathered together in villages of varying sizes and then in Galicia further inland they are in little hamlets - perhaps three or four farm, with all there associated buildings, whereas where I have been traveling the buildings are spread over the countryside.  The people haven't changed though.  The older women have a distinctive shape to them.  The Galicians I see seem short to me, and the women are bent, perhaps from working in the fields.  The scarecrows in the paddocks look realistic because many are topped with a head scarf, making them look like a woman working in the fields.

There is a sense of excitement in the air, because this is the start of the last 100 kms.  This is the destination, and in most cases the end, of a journey of varying lengths.  Mine is a bit longer than most!  I have a couple of very long days ahead and so will be nursing my feet very carefully as they are getting sore, and probably, if I'm honest, tired!  This is a quick post as I doubt that I'll have internet for a few days.

 Leaving Vilalba I passed this interesting wall.

 The "mowers" have been out.

 A renovators delight.

 The path goes in between farm buildings, these few deserted.

 A well at a farm I was passing.

 An interesting little bridge to cross - no trolls!

It was under this monstrosity - not over!

Another cemetery. This type is described as being "somewhere between Gothic and Gaudian" in my guide!

 I love these slate fences that line the fields here in Galicia.

Baamonde Iglesia.