Camino a Santiago Day 27: O’Cebreiro to Sarria (Samos)

Distance: 31.75k (19.72mi)

Elevation gain: 504m (1,653ft)

Duration: 7h 48m

Steps: 39,661

Calories: 2,008

Takeout pizza and a bottle of wine. That’s my definition of heaven right now. Especially after so long on the road. And especially when my room has a massive balcony with a lovely view, and the city I’m in is way too busy for my current level of exhaustion and zen.

BTW, I just realized that one month ago today I set out on my first day of the Camino. Also, as of right now I only have five walking days left. How did that happen? And how have I not fallen apart yet?

Today was stunningly beautiful. And also very, VERY wet.

Nearly as soon as I left the charming mountaintop village of O’Cebreiro did it start not just raining, but pouring cats and dogs. For 75 minutes this went on. I, progressively getting more miserable, even with my rain layers on; which theoretically should keep me dry, but really were just battling the inevitable.

Eventually, thank goodness, a village with an open bar appeared before me, and I promptly went inside, ordered a coffee along with all the other drenched pilgrims and waited for the worst to end.

Now this would have all been fine and dandy if it weren’t for the fact that I was walking an extra long day today to A) Get to Samos Monastery for a 4:30pm guided tour and B) Then go a further 6 miles to Sarria, where I was to spend the night. Had I planned to walk the entire stage this would have been nearly the length of a full marathon. As it was, because of the late timing of my monastery tour, I had previously decided I would walk the first 20 miles (32K) and cab the remainder into Sarria. Let me tell you, even if I hadn’t pre-planned this, I still would have after how today turned out.

Galicia is stunningly beautiful. It’s green and lush and amazing. The mountains are to die for and the forests are magical. But they don’t just get like that for free, do they? It rains all the time here, which I was ready for. But I wasn’t ready for the cold. How in the world did we go from 95F to 52F in the span of four days? Someone please explain this to me. I am nowhere near prepared, having decided at the last minute to leave my fleece and down jacket at home. I mean, why would I ever need them in Spain at the end of June? Why indeed? Last night in O’Cebreiro I spent the best 20 euros of the trip on a cheesy sweatshirt with a Camino logo on it. It’s warm, cozy and awesome.

Rain or not though, It was a lovely day. And even though I was exhausted, cold and wet by the time I got to Samos I’m so glad I made the effort to visit.

La Abadía de Samos is a working monastery. Twelve Benedictine monks live there at the moment. And the only way to visit is via a guided tour provided by one of the monks. The building dates back to the XV century, but St. Benedict founded the monastery itself in the VI century. At the time, they was all hermits, meaning the monks lived in caves. I also learned they don’t have an Abbott and haven’t for many years, because they need a minimum of 12 permanent monks and two of their current number are still novices. As our monk/guide told us: they keep dying out and not enough people have it in them to join the order anymore.

Accommodation: Casa Baran. I truly loved this place. It’s located on the main street out of town, so for Camino purposes it’s excellent. Though this means you will walk through ALL of Sarria before getting here. It’s a pensión, not a hotel, so there are only a handful of rooms. They are big, full of charm and mine, as mentioned earlier had a huge sunroom. It was perfect. Just FYI, there are no meals served here. Double room, single occupancy €70.

Dinner: Matías Locanda. Since being thwarted in my attempt to get a pizza in Ponferrada, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Sarria being as big as it is, I knew this wouldn’t be too hard to achieve. As it turns out, this place was maybe a block from my Pensión. I ordered the pizza to go, as well as a bottle of wine and took them back to my room. It was awesome! €28.