What a great day! Chilly and misty, but George and the cousins had arranged for horses from Herrerias to O’Cebreiro today. We walked about 6 km before dawn in order to get to the town with the horses at the appointed time, and then we rode up the steep hill to O’Cebreiro on horseback! We began at about 780m and the top of the mountain is 1,300m. It was rocky and a bit muddy and slippery, so I watched the path just as I might have were I walking, amazed that Bonnie was able to find just the right spot to place her hooves. We didn’t necessarily travel any faster than had we walked, but it was a new perspective and different muscles being used!
O’Cebreiro is the first major village in the Galicia region of Spain. the Iglesia is one of the earliest surviving buildings on the Camino, dating from the 9th C. This also marks the resting place of Don Elias Valina Sampedro, who was a major architect of restoring the Camino. The yellow arrow was his idea and it was his efforts that have made it such a well marked way.
The countryside is reminiscent of other Celtic lands with small fields and lush pastures for cows, sheep, pigs etc. It shares many historical and physical similarities with other Celtic regions such as the western coast of Ireland. A regional dialect is spoken here, called Galega, so once again my attempt at Spanish is a bit limited.
Since it was a short day, half of it on horseback, not much more to report, but how about some photos!
countryside
sun making an appearance
me and Bonnie about to set off for 10 km uphill
on the trail
coming into O’Cebreiro
Ancient house (and yellow arrow)
View of the Valcarce valley (and where I stayed last night)
So proud of you!!!! You did it!!!!
We have no doubt that you will complete this journey. Your saddle on Bonnie looked
minimal. Beth/Carl
Giddy up! Riding is a great way to experience a new place. It adds a new dimension to what you can see and is loads of fun too!
You look fantastic !