The Meseta, Cordillera Cantabrica and into Galicia!

In many ways the stunning landscape and the wonderful local people have made this my favourite section of the Via de La Plata.
Some days have been very demanding as we climbed up and over mountain passes, but so worthwhile to be ´on top of the world´!!!

WHERE WE STAYED.
It coincided with some outstanding stays in albergue turisticos and Casa Rurales, with warm friendly families running these establishments and extending their warmth and concern to tired pilgrims!
The public albergues at A Gudina,Laza, Vilar de Barrio and A Laxe are absolutely outstanding, with modern facilities, welcoming hostitaleros handing out smiles with bags of disposable mattress covers and pillowcases to all arriving peregrinos and then staying on to hand out advice and extra blankets for those travelling too light!. Walls of glass meant sunshine inside until 9pm which was very pleasant after other nights in slightly musty unkept rooms!
In Laza the hob top was so high tech that it was a challenge to heat some milk for our night cap......press and hold for 4 secs etc, sometimes working and sometimes not! Luckily a lively German girl had worked it out so came to our rescue (mind you their problem was a pizza they had bought in the supermarket but no oven to heat it), so I suggested a flip over or two in the pan (I noticed leftovers the next morn so it can´t have been that tasty sin oven)!
Casa Anita at Santa Croya was a very welcoming family establishment with everything a pilgrim could want and need including patio courtyard to relax while the washing machine spun the ´ropas' clean and dry, internet with mike for skype, drink and food machines and lots of VDLP memorabilia AND chatter.
Casa Teresa at Palacios de Sanabria was another good choice which we shared with 4 females travelling together and a Spanish bike pilgrim arriving late. This was a somewhat quirky place run by kind and homely Teresa, who fed us well, but also needed to attend to big drips on the unfinished patio (balustrade not attached) and dripping radiator in our room (buckets of varying sizes were useful!!! It had been raining heavily that day and despite leaking roof, we still managed to dry clothes and have a warm night with Teresa! It was mnetioned in one of the guides as a hotel in a previous life, but the huge marble slab and old scales and cold room downstairs suggested a butcher´s shop, so maybe the ´Cow and Goat´!
Whatever, Teresa arrived back at 9pm with a hot drink for C and I and then at 7am the following morning with our breakfast, somehow appearing from next to the cold room. We were asked to deposit the key in a little gap in the bricks and wedge a stone in behind it as we left, so I am guessing it was left ready for the next lucky pilgrim.
Our next wonderful Casa experience was Casa Luz in Puebla de Sanabria. This was run by a husband, wife and daughter, but it was the husband who welcomed us and delighted to show me the bathroom for senoras which was an amazing almost luxury bathroom with cane chair and spacious! We shared a bunk room with lots of others by the time all the stragglers (bike riders) arrived by about 8pm coming in through the back yard and the vegetable patch. It was all so well equipped with new modern showers and loos for the gents and large boot and bike racks, washing machine and drier and outdoor seating under cover by drink and food machines. The kitchen was well equipped to cook a decent meal if you wished (the bikers cooked up a storm and drank late into the night so noisy kitchen and then snorers slightly took the edge of such a great albergue!
Casa Cervino at Requejo is next on the list......another really spacious and clean private albergue ran by an extremely kind young couple.....again really well equipped with towels and foot massage cream given to us on arrival! There was food for sale behind the bar and we were just asked to leave the approp`riate money if we needed supplies. A drink vending machine gave us a very acceptable can of vino tinto to enjoy outside in the sun at 830pm with some of our cheese and meat nibbles. A washing machine was available and a library of camino related literature for those half bored moments before bedtime knowing that your pack doesn´t have your latest novel!
At Lubian we stayed at Casa Pachaca and can´t recommend this highly enough! it is a truly wonderful house full of family memorabilia and owned and run by a very special lady, who accompanied us to Mass at the little hermita church 2 ks out of the village in the woods. After the service, she identified some wildflowers for us (including cuckoo´s shoes) and then took us for a round trip to show us some of the better camino options for us the following day. Some people are so kind and really add so many extra shared experiences for us. We ate well at Pachaca and yes ther was a bath for sore aching feet after a day of climbing up and over!
The last one comes highly commended as well and this is Casa Nunez at Campobecerros, but a word of warning for those planning this route, do ring and book this one as there are only 4 rooms and all have en suite (several people arrived after us and were disappointed). This is another family establishment and is attached to a bar. On arrival Granny (babysitting an infant and toddler) mad us the largest cafe con leche yet and plonked us down on chairs as the rooms weren´t ready! Soon several couples were waiting and nothing seemed to be happening, but as there was work to be done and children to be looked after, things happened slowly. It was quite hilarious as men arrived for drinks at the bar, dodging bikes and prams and Granny all the time talking in a very loud voice and no-one seemingly listening to her!
Eventually our room was ready, and surprisingly very nice, with balcony and wonderful mountain views (out the back entrance form the bar patio, which was the smoking area, so bar was clean air for the littlies which I approved of!
The next wait was for lunch. Granny escorted in two at a time for delicious family roast dinner, with kid´s mum as waitress AND bar person ,so Gran could have lunch with the men at the next table.
Later that evening we returned to the bar with Gran on duty again.....barmaid, granny and Crochet in between, so busy abuela!
Gents came and went, football world cup in South Africa was enjoyed between card games and they all showed community fondness to the two tiny children who were up all evening.
One last special mention was our night with the Cistercian monks at Oseira. The Tourist Office in Ourense tried to convey less than basic conditions in the monastery albergue, but we were still keen on the overall experience, so a decision was made.
Yes, the albergue was damp, musty and not very clean, with toilets not funcioning, but we were warned!
The plus side was the welcome we received from a very friendly girl in the monastery shop, who escorted us to hot showers at 330pm, took us on an amazing guided tour of the monastery and then allowed us to accompany the resident monks at Vespers in their upper chapel. This was followed by a very friendly monk ushering us out after the service and giving us each one of his little paintings as a gift ......a truly memorable experience.

THE LANDSCAPE.
At first windfarms were a novelty on distant hills, then came magical views of distant Galician mountains as we climbed higher and higher over mountain passes and saddles.
At first we passed by many ruins of adobe houses and of lives no longer tenable in some of these inhospitable areas of cantabria and Galicia.
Huge dams (embalses)provided plentiful water supplies to these areas,and which we seemed to skirt around for hours along tracks full of cistus, lichen covered oaks and the ubiquitous wild lavender.
Other days we enjoyed lanes of broom, holm oaks and flowering chestnuts.
One of the joys was discovering tiny hermitas almost lost along country lanes but many still used for special festivals from the nearby village. We often stopped and took shelter from the sun in their tiny porches.
Our first climb up and over the Pass was Padornello, in very good weather after heavy rain so quite lucky and views were good (despite spaghetti junctions of roads and railway passes and tunnels!
After reaching the top and enjoying a coffee break at Bar Silvo, we really enjoyed the delightful shady lanes, cobblestones, chestnuts, wildflowers, water and old stone bridges leading down to Lubian, nestled into the hillside.
The following day we climbed to A Canda with lovely stretches of broom and raised stepping stones by a stream to follow, but it was a long afternoon to A Gudina (beautiful but quite a demanding section).
Next day we were right up on top, walking along a ridge in very strong winds but at least it was dry. We passed through 3 tiny little hamlets mostly uninhabited nowadays because of their isolation, but this was nevertheless one of the most spectacular days along the route. The views amazing, the sun shining, barren and windswept but lone farmers moving their goatherds and wild strawberries along the roadside.
In these tiny villages, one or 2 people were tending their vegetables and scything weeds around their plots.
Originally, these little isolated villages had a tiny inn (venta) to welcome travellers along the route, some of whom were the itinerant farm workers (segadores or reapers) moving from job to job, others were pilgrims seeking shelter from the harsh climate.
This area had some of the 100 rail tunnels built in this area, and which gave the locals access to public transport.

THE VILLAGES.
Santa Croya....A friendly little village with one of the best butchers´shops on the camino. Very spacious park and casa Anita at end of village.
Olleros de Terra......try La Trucha for a very good coffee and friendly people.
Rio Negro....stayed in Municipal Albergue.....good and spacious. bar Palacio opposite provided very good meals for us and opened early next morning for breakfast. No longer a shop in town, but bar will sell you items such as yoghurt and milk.
Palacios has tiny shop which opens when it feels like it (notice on door said back in 5)......who knows whether it was minutes, hours or days. In fact bar next door rang for us and young mum arrived with two young children who were sent to the bar while she opened the tiny shop.
Not much else going on in P, apart from bar Mirador, where patrons follow most locals in Spain and just drop everything on the floor, whether it is sugar wrappers or peanut shells!
We sought out eateries that were inexpensive but well used by the locals, and were never disappointed. In Puebla de sanabria, Meson Remate came up trumps for late lunch and can be highly recommended. Local cafe also has free internet!
Requejo has delightful bar cum shop and is well worth a visit for the wonderful friendly people who run it and love pilgs.
Lunch at TU Casa also comes highly recommended.
Bar Peregrino at A Gudino (near Albergue) is a very good choice.
Bar Picota at Laza was a 5 star family run establishment and they did a very good lunch for pilgrims.
Alburgueria el rincon bar MUST be visited to meet the quirky patron who has 1000s of scallop shells whith pilgrim signatures.....he delighted in showing us where he had placed our shell before we left!
Vilar de Barrio... Ruta de La Plata gave us a good lunch (another very nice family).
A Laxe.....if you stay in this wonderful albergue, you must eat at Ma Jose.....another delightful family and very good food.
Our last recommendation if to stay at restaurante Rio right at the old bridge at Puente Ulla, where the baby calamares are the best yet and the lady running this place will give you a very nice clean room for the night.