- Starting Point: Grañon
- Ending Point: Tosantos
- Daily distance: 12.80 miles (20.6 km)
- Total distance: 151.66 miles (244.07 km)
Today’s hike was uninspiring. It was a gravel trail that followed closely along a busy highway. The one bonus was that the wind from passing tractor trailers helped cool us.
A Camino angel did help us today. Laura and I began the hike in the dark again in hopes of avoiding the afternoon sun. And again, we missed a yellow arrow in the dark! Luckily, we heard a woman’s voice call out “Señoras”. When we turned around, she pointed to the arrow we missed.
Our albergue in Tosantos was wonderful. The owners were very sweet and helpful, there was a lovely courtyard and the dinner was delicious. I had cream of zucchini soup and stewed pork jaw. The meat was so tender it melted in your mouth. During our dinner, we visited with Jimmy, a woman who grew up in Connecticut but has lived in Spain for 40 years. She shared the story of how she met her Spanish husband and a little bit about Spain’s retirement system.
After dinner, I was returning my wine glass to the bar when I happened upon Catherine, the older French woman we had dinner with a couple of nights ago. Catherine told me she was about to hike up to the cliffs above the town to see a small chapel dedicated to Mary. She asked if I wanted to come with her but added “I must warn you that I’m a little bit drunk”. Well, by this time I had had a few glasses of wine myself, but an adventure to see a shrine to Mary in the cliffs could not be turned down. I grabbed Laura because I knew she would love this too and up we climbed to the cliff. There was a small chapel built into the mountain and inside was a beautiful image of “Virgen De la Peña”, Our Lady of the Cliffs, and a small retablo in her honor. There is a town legend that says a 8th century statue of the child Jesus was hidden in the cave to protect it when the Muslims invaded. We sat in the few pews inside and paid our respects.
Pics to follow when wifi signal is stronger…
The Way to Land's End 