St. James Way

58th Hiking Day

From Triacastela via Samos to Sarria. The cold nags at me again today, but I still have to make observations as precise as possible. I still have 136 km to Santiago. That should be doable. And the soles of the shoes lasted up to this point, they will last a little longer. The intestines are pressing and here in Galicia there are trees with chestnuts everywhere. Tracey from (134.375 km) Hong Kong had once cooked them and I have to say: with her preparation method they don't taste that dry at all. Galicia reminds me a bit of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in terms of vegetation and climate. But here are small elevations everywhere. The Washington Nats won the World Series about 5 hours ago and the dear Americans ask me about my hat. I wonder if I shouldn't cancel Lisbon and go straight to Morocco instead. The decision can still wait. These thoughts represent a beautiful luxury. I also walk here on wonderful narrow paths with deciduous trees on both sides (133.314 km). The leaves rustle under my steps. Writing is good for my soul and when I think there is not much left, something new always comes to mind. Maybe nothing earth-shaking, but interesting little things. Incidentally, Lina sent me a very pretty picture of herself with black glasses. And to my left a creek gurgles and its water is broken by heavy stones. Really lovely area. The way to Samos is worth it.

Just visited the Benedictine monastery of Samos. 8 monks live there at the moment. Only one of them is a novice. All of this on 1,100 square meters. The garden was impressive. Unusual cross on a circle and a sign for infinity. In addition, modern wall paintings and repeated references to the abbey in Monte Cassino. Unfortunately we were chased past the garden completely without explanation. I also wonder how 8 monks want to manufacture their "in-house" chocolate, jam, honey and various liqueurs on their own. In the monastery I met Adriana, Monica and Cassie.

The thing with the monks and the manufacturing can't be explained with “ora et labora” either.