< Norte Day 25 — Norte Day 27 > < Norte Index >
21 kilometers, 4.5 hours, passing through Castromaior, Martiñan, and Goiriz.
As quick as that, another shift in the landscape: Across the north, the Camino del Norte meanders along jagged cliffs and beautiful beaches and into pine forests inland. After Ribadeo and leaving the sea, mostly eucalyptus plantations and dairy farms were found. After that, the path moved to higher elevations and farther inland, with many more plantations. This day, much of the trek was through forests of oak trees shrouded in ivy and moss. Mysterious settings were around every corner.
As crows squawked high in the trees, I imagined George R. R. Martin wandering about in a dark European forest and the storyline for The Song of Fire and Ice forming in his mind. Jon Snow was born. Maester Aemon and his bird, too. “Corn. Corn.”
This, too, was one of the easiest days on the Norte. There was little climbing and much of the trail was on a farm track, thankfully, away from the highway. The route did cross those noisy beasts but diverged quickly.
This night I spent alone at the Vilalba Parador. As Parador hotels (owned by the Catholic Church) go, this one wasn’t all that impressive, and I couldn’t see why they had built one there. Vilalba had nothing. It was a nice, small city. But there aren’t any real sights or attractions. Maybe it was just a density thing; so many hotels per so many square kilometers, or something. For certain, I would avail myself of the breakfast buffet, though.