Rest day in beautiful rural Galicia

Yesterday afternoon, after I finished my long and pretty hard third day in a row, I was in the town of Rodeiro and called the Casa de Santo Estevo, www.ribeirasacra.com, whose owner has become a camino friend. Within a half hour, Ian was in town to pick me up and take me back to the little piece of paradise he shares with his Dutch wife Irene.

 

I can only say that it´s hard to imagine a more perfect place for enjoying the views, the green, the water.... AND the incredible romanesque church next door. Walking around the outside was a big treat in itself, but late in the afternoon as we were sitting outside under a big umbrella chatting, Irene saw the "woman with the keys" arrive to put some flowers in the church. Off I sped, and got to spend some minutes inside. It is a tall romanesque church, with some of the high arches beginning to transition into a gothic point, but the romanesque in the capitals and the doorway is unmistakable. In fact, Spain´s experts have concluded that the door was carved by the same Maestro Mateo who did the Pórtico de la Gloria in the Cathedral of Santiago. For me, the real show stopper was the font -- a baptismal font, but certainly pre-Christian, just covered with all sorts of unintelligible signs that some call runes, I think. It was pretty incredible. This is an incredibly rich part of Galicia, filled with romanesque churches and monasteries, stunning landscapes, it´s not called the Ribeira Sacra (holy river bank) for nothing!


I got the royal treatment in the Casa de Santo Estevo, a great dinner, some fine wines from the region, a late night sitting outside watching the night sky arrive. I wish I could have kept my eyes open long enough to see the stars really come up, but by 11, I was ready to pack it in, having gotten just a glimpse of what was coming next. But the pull of a comfy bed, with cool breeze coming through the window was just too strong.

Today, Irene and Ian took me to some incredible view points of the Sil River. Their house is located on the Miño, with lots of beautiful terraced vineyards. The part of the Sil we saw, however, was much too steep and rocky for that, truly a forbidding but majestic river gorge. At the very end of the tour, we stopped at some vineyards that are grown on 45 degree slopes. Imagine tending those vines and picking those grapes! Lunch outside on the terrace of their casa rural, and then off I went, back to solitude.

And now I´m back in Rodeiro, the town where Ian picked me up yesterday, ready to start off again tomorrow. I will probably connect with the Via de la Plata tomorrow, so I should only have one more day alone. I´ll have to make sure to think lots and lots of great thoughts tomorrow.