A dream is a wish your heart makes...
(Walt Disney's Cinderella)
Tuesday Sept 17th, 2019
El Acibo to Ponferrada
15km, 26,000 steps, walking day #27
I woke early enough to see dawn breaking, and to see the mist roll down the mountains on the other side of the valley.
I had a lovely breakfast with a couple from France and a couple from Brazil. We had a most entertaining conversation. Cafe con leche (coffee with milk) can be served by the cup, already mixed by the host. This morning, our hosts placed an urn of black coffee on the table and two pitchers of hot milk. I missed the conversation about what kind of milk was in the pitchers. I mixed myself a hot drink of coffee and what turned out to be cow's milk. OK. The Brazilian man pointed to the other pitcher and said: "Did you try the sheep's milk? It's very good". I'd never heard of that being commercially available, so I certainly planned to try it, as soon as I had an empty cup. The French man said "No, it's goat's milk". The Brazilian man commented that goat's milk is usually quite strong tasting, and this was unusually delightful and sweet. I tried it. It was, indeed, delicious and mild. When our hosts returned to the breakfast room, we asked about the mild and sweet goat's milk. No, she laughed. It's OAT milk. That's a true story. I couldn't dream that up.
With a touch of sadness, it was time to say goodbye to my lovely hosts and their beautiful mountain home called "Casa rural La Trucha del Arco Iris" (The Rainbow Trout Cottage). Selfies were taken and Anna posted hers (with permission, of course) to Instagram.
This is Eliana and Evandro. I had breakfast with them, and we met up again in Molinesca. They are married and are both dentists in Sao Paolo in Brazil. They share their practice with one of their daughters who is also a dentist. While crossing this bridge, Evandro received a text from his other daughter, telling him that she had just been accepted into the Master's program in Nutrition, specializing in the area of nutrition as applied to cancer and the autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
We walked through town together. Very soon, Eliana and Evandro met up with a young lady who they had made a connection with, but hadn't seen or heard from for a few weeks. There were hugs and kisses all around, even for me. This young lady (she looked 12 years old, really) is a 30 year old dermatologist, also from Brazil. She had turned off her social media as she was being overwhelmed with messages. Evando said he had been worried about her. He said "my daughters aren't here, so I needed someone to worry about, you know, just to keep in practice". So sweet.
(Walt Disney's Cinderella)
My final of three luggage transport tags
Tuesday Sept 17th, 2019
El Acibo to Ponferrada
15km, 26,000 steps, walking day #27
I had a lovely breakfast with a couple from France and a couple from Brazil. We had a most entertaining conversation. Cafe con leche (coffee with milk) can be served by the cup, already mixed by the host. This morning, our hosts placed an urn of black coffee on the table and two pitchers of hot milk. I missed the conversation about what kind of milk was in the pitchers. I mixed myself a hot drink of coffee and what turned out to be cow's milk. OK. The Brazilian man pointed to the other pitcher and said: "Did you try the sheep's milk? It's very good". I'd never heard of that being commercially available, so I certainly planned to try it, as soon as I had an empty cup. The French man said "No, it's goat's milk". The Brazilian man commented that goat's milk is usually quite strong tasting, and this was unusually delightful and sweet. I tried it. It was, indeed, delicious and mild. When our hosts returned to the breakfast room, we asked about the mild and sweet goat's milk. No, she laughed. It's OAT milk. That's a true story. I couldn't dream that up.
With a touch of sadness, it was time to say goodbye to my lovely hosts and their beautiful mountain home called "Casa rural La Trucha del Arco Iris" (The Rainbow Trout Cottage). Selfies were taken and Anna posted hers (with permission, of course) to Instagram.
L to R: Anna, me, Terese
I'm holding the casa mascot, a stuffed rainbow trout.
Today was a "rest day" - only 15 km to Ponferrada. Should be a breeze, I thought. Easy as a sweet dream. Ya, not so much. El Acebo is at 1050m above sea level. Ponferrada is at 550m. Straight down over steep, rocky terrain.
Sometimes there's a bit of a smooth part to the side like here, but mostly it was just rocky, like the part visible to my left.
This trip has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I certainly am living it. And I think I'm becoming part Mountain Goat in the process.
I passed through the tiny village of Reiga de Ambrose. Everyone was waking up, opening their windows, greeting each other and generally beginning their day.
Morning walk in Riega de Ambrose.
I also walked through Molinesca, a very pretty little town. It is one of those towns that one enters via a Roman bridge.
The Spanish are very proud of the number of arches their bridge has, and they will do excavations to determine if there are more arches that have been covered up over time.
This is Eliana and Evandro. I had breakfast with them, and we met up again in Molinesca. They are married and are both dentists in Sao Paolo in Brazil. They share their practice with one of their daughters who is also a dentist. While crossing this bridge, Evandro received a text from his other daughter, telling him that she had just been accepted into the Master's program in Nutrition, specializing in the area of nutrition as applied to cancer and the autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
We walked through town together. Very soon, Eliana and Evandro met up with a young lady who they had made a connection with, but hadn't seen or heard from for a few weeks. There were hugs and kisses all around, even for me. This young lady (she looked 12 years old, really) is a 30 year old dermatologist, also from Brazil. She had turned off her social media as she was being overwhelmed with messages. Evando said he had been worried about her. He said "my daughters aren't here, so I needed someone to worry about, you know, just to keep in practice". So sweet.
The final approach into Ponferrada.
Sunrises, mountains, cats, food.
Clean, sweet air.
Lovely people, caring hosts.
Nothing to do but walk.
Nice dream!
Love the early morning and evening light in your pictures. Also, it looked to me as though autumn is arriving there too - a tree in the background of your rocky downwards path shone yellow and gold.
ReplyDelete