I am in a much better mood. The walk is pretty with plenty of cows and green grass, and we left REALLY early in the morning to beat the hordes of tourists. (A group of 40 Italian High Schoolers joined just after Sarria. Imagine a group of US teens. Now double the volume, double the incomprehensability, and half the deodorant use. We´re glad we left early.)
When we left it was still dark, and we had to use our headlamps occasionally to find the waymarks in the forest, but the moon was full, the sky was clear, and the world was quiet. All very good things.We arrived at the Albergue in Ribadiso early in the afternoon. Ribadiso is TINY. Just the albergue, a bar, and a few barns. We opted to stay because it was right on a river where we could go in the water, sunbathe and in general, relax. While we were by the river, a trout fisherman with tradional fly rod and wicker basket tried his luck, herders brought their cows down to drimk, and two cowboys (really!) had to take their horses into the water to convince some particularly stubborn cows to go home. Even sheep seemed
to like the area, as a herd of them grazed on the albergue´s back lawn. All in all, a very idyllic spot, and a welcome change of mood from yesterday.Ribadiso´s main drawback being that it had no grocery. I decided that rather than pay for dinner at the bar, we should walk to the next town, buy groceries, and then have a picnic. The next town was supposed to be 2.5Km away. The EDGE of town was 2.5 Km away, but the grocery was 1 more Km in. No worries, though. I had unpacked my pack so that we could fill it with groceries and not hurt our hands carrying plastic bags. It worked out well, we had a delicious dinner on the river with the cows, and now have been branded "Extreme Pilgrims" for tacking an extra 7 Kilometres onto an already longish day.
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