We left the purple room after an amazing, though slightly awkward, breakfast as the owner of the bed and breakfast stood at attention and watched us eat. The regular morning fog was settled in and the trees dropped small pockets of water on us every so often. We followed a few stick arrows until we walked out onto a blurry road with no more signs. A kind neighbor, out washing her car in the fog, pointed us in the right direction. We climbed all morning before we got our first glimpse of the sun and finally we were above the clouds.
The views were incredible and small wildflowers seemed to emerge from the fog. We were both having an amazing time, with fewer aches and pains than the previous days. It finally felt like we were getting the hang of this thing. A small cafe broke up the hike and a bunch of pilgrims had grouped up to enjoy some coffee or beers. A woman, who was taking a picture of the feet of all the hikers she ran into, asked us for ours making us feel like real hikers. She even took a special one of the large scar on my ankle. I couldn't help but feel proud at how far I'd come in just two and a half months.
A large group of men in matching shirts arrived at the cafe and sat down for a beer. When they were getting ready to leave, one man handed my mom a small piece of cake he was eating. Without hesitation, she took it and popped it in her mouth. I followed her lead but couldn't help thinking how cool it was that she just took a random piece of food from a complete stranger without thinking. We climbed hill after hill and were so excited by how good we finally felt. We reached a small line of rocks, signaling that we were leaving Asturias and entering Galicia.
Galicia is known for their seafood and we were excited to try a new type of cuisine. We found another small cafe where we had an outstanding lunch before the huge climb into A Fonsagrada. Our skin was baked and our feet were tired so we checked into our Pension immediately and crashed on the beds before showering. We walked around town to find dinner and chose a local place where we could try their delicacy, octopus.
Pulpo=Octopus (on the right)
My Mom wanted to order a full plate but I thought we should try the half before committing. They placed the large plate of tentacles in front of us and we were both hesitant. After my Mom's first piece, her face dropped. "I'm not eating that." Was the first thing out if her mouth. We moved the tentacles around to look like we had eaten more and snuck past the locals to get out of there. We went to sleep full but unsatisfied.
STATS
Castro- A Fonsagrada
Miles: 12.7
Steps: 31,360
Octopus eaten: 7 pieces