European Eucalyptus

 Day 68 - Arzua

    Because we needed to cover 30k (18 miles), Esther and I left in the dark and walked 5 kilometers before breakfast.  By late morning, we met Calvin and Sassa in Furelos, who took a taxi to meet us on the way.  We walked into Melde where we enjoyed the local specialties of octopus and roasted peppers. We walked together for an hour after lunch before it was evident that if we were going to finish the day,  Esther and I would need to walk alone for a couple of hours and the rest taxi ahead.

     We met again at the medieval town of Rabidiso, where Manny enjoyed playing in the stream while waiting for Pappa and Farmor to get there. By then it was midafternoon and we all walked together up a long hill to Arzua and a two bedroom apartment.  Manny seemed to have been energized by his stream playing, because he walked the whole 3 kilometers into town.

     The scenery has changed a little with eucalyptus forests dominating the landscape.  The local Galicians farm the trees to produce paper, even though they are not indigenous to the region.  The trail is still very crowded with Spanish people walking from Sarria.  There are a lot of young couples and many groups of young people, sometimes blasting their boomboxes while walking.  Everyone has their own Camino!

     In the evening, Calvin and Sassa had a date night and Papa, Farmor and Manny enjoyed the local playground and had frozen pizza and packaged fajitas in the apartment. We have less than a marathon left.  Because of lodging constraints,  we need to do another 18 miles tomorrow and 8 miles on our final day.