de Portomarin a Gonzar
Book - 4.9 miles
Map My Walk 5.9 miles, 3 1/4 hours
Fitbit - 14,368 steps, 6.12 miles
Elevation- 545 meters
Things I am thankful for: Senor Huerta and Senor Montoya, my high school Spanish teachers - and for all the chickens in the world for their selfless sacrifice.
We were up- ahh-bright and early today. We would have been up early except that last night I lost my daily post when I foolishly looked up something on the Internet while composing it. And just like what happened to "Violet" the rabbit in Watership Down, it was gone.
Here's Dad eating our home made breakfast in our little kitchen. What I really wanted was frosted mini wheats and milk.
Then down to the town square to get more cash from the ATM and we discovered our nemesis. It was a group-a real organized tour group getting ready to leave the town. Note nice hair on women and tiny light weight little bitty day packs.
We lingered a bit so the would get way ahead of us. Course they would anyway cuz they're young and not weighted down like donkeys. You can see the group of them way down at the bottom of the hill.
Two brand new motifs in Portomartin. Ready for excitement?!
A really neat wall at edge it town with very creative rock and stone work.
Then we started a 5.5 mile that was continuously uphill - not steep but uphill. A humorous thing happened at a junction of sorts. We came upon this marker which clearly pointed right but the path and a faint puny yellow attire continued to point straight ahead. We stopped. What does complementario mean anyway?
Two young women from Lithuania approached and stopped, looked at us with eyes which clearly asked,"which way". We looked on our translator for the translation. Hmmm. It means complimentary....duh. So is it a detour, scenic route? Then a group of Spainards approached and stopped. They pulled out their phones, looked at them and then at us, and gestured straight ahead. So we followed the Spaniards!
The path today was a bit boring - like walking through Mary S Young park in West Linn - not much to see
That doesn't mean we didn't take pictures
We passed an abandoned brick or ceramic factory These telephone poles were just laying on the sidewalk
And for all you Utah people with your "Hole in the Rock" myths and legends here is Hole in the Wall, Spain.
Some big farming operations along the road
"Husks of rice for animal bedding"
That is not a monastery in the distance. It is a chicken farm!
Oh you could smell it!!
Here is why. Empty crates on left trailer and full ones (sniff. I'm sorry chickens for your pain) on the right
Other interesting things along the way. A mother from Germany with her son in a bike trailer. And people think I was crazy (I was) when we took baby Travis to South Africa.
Remember our pictures of hay? Well we finally googled hay silage in Spain and learned everything. Here is a photo of the cut grass compressed into a big mound, covered with plastic, weighted down with tires. Just like in Idaho along the interstate.
In keeping with our resolve to do a good deed, I picked up a bag of litter along side the trail. No it is not what you're thinking. It is a bag with part of a banana. A dog did not do that. And I disposed of it properly.
And dad picked up a worm and moved it to the other side -- though we're not sure which way it wanted to go
We got to our little town of Gonzar and had lunch. Picture is upside down- sorry. Galician chicken ( thank you chicken) over patatas fritas; veal cuttlets with fries and huevos fritas.
And dad took this picture of Mishka's fur cousin who was eating bits of food that people dropped for it. I thought only Warren would do this.
Here is our hostel.
View out our window. I love the Spanish slate. 90% of Europe's slate used for roofing originates in Spain with Galicia being the primary source. These are old and ancient
These are modern ones on the remodeled hostel
Gonzar is a tiny hamlet with a pop of 43
I am even amazed with how old and traditional the farm buildings are
I took pictures inside. Mostly junk like in our barn but in one place you can see an old fireplace. In one building I could actually see a woman frying sausages on a gas stove. No lights, dirt floor. No, I did not go inside and introduce myself.
Some of the bigger buildings have milk cows (black and white ones) tied up in them.
Going to dinner now. I may have seen a big hunk of prime rib displayed in a cooler. Who knows??
Oh yeah!!!
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