Day 28: Under the shadow of the three castles

Dear traveler, 

Imagine you're in a train station and dozens of people are buzzing around you. Some are running, others are in the queue to buy tickets, some speak loud, others are rustling their luggage. This is how I felt this morning. I wonder where was that pilgrim that was sharing ear plugs the other night as I would've worn at least two, three pairs.

But waking up early came with its advantages. We hit the road at sunrise, in the warm light that was embracing the ridge.

The trail takes us through a wonderful forest, through a wonderful silence...awkward silence...I won't disturb the silence this time as we had enough buzzing back at the albergue.

Mamarmot tells me that today we're going towards Triacastela, which means the three castles. 

-"Are we going to find three castles there, in the same village?"

-"I don't know, Marmot, we'll see!"

Until then, my legs feel kind of tired. 

Maybe I did not sleep well.

Maybe it's because I did not eat too much in the morning.

Maybe the mattress had a green pea on it.

Ooooor, maybe it's because of this slope. 

-"Come on, Mamarmot, didn't you say that today we're not climbing at all?"

-"Come on, Marmot, it's only a small slope towards a peak. Afterwards it's only descent."

Oooook.

Mamarmot seems a bit grumpy today, maybe because she did not drink her coffee. One thing I know for sure is that you don't want to annoy too much a bear awoken from its sleep. It's the same with Mamarmot before coffee.

Anyway, I must admit, it's very beautiful out here. Hills sprinkled with flowers and green grass are laying at my feet. In the distance, the mountains we came from are starting to define their shape. Or maybe I'm wrong and those are other mountains. I'm still not that good at spatial orientation.

We get to a small coffee shop where the pilgrims are laying in the sun like lizards. And not just them. A big fluffy dog followed their example.

Mamarmot tells me that here it's the peak we had to climb. Alto do Poio.

Ohh. This explains the face of this dog and why it's lying on the ground like that. It just climbed its way up here.

I go cheer him up as for sure it mumbled silently on its way up here. He doesn't seem to care too much about my presence but this doesn't stop me from petting its fluffy fur.

Meanwhile, my parents found a nice place with a view to enjoy their coffee. It's really nice!

Since we stopped, we fill our bellies and then continue further. It's a totally different story.

We pass different paths that go through meadows and this place reminds me of home. Well, not exactly my home but some places we go trekking sometimes, through small villages at the mountain feet.

And now, since Mamarmot is not Medusa-like anymore, I could actually ask her to play a word game. Or to tell stories. 

And so, story after story we end up in a small village with stone houses.

At the entrance, a huge tree greets us that is very much alike the weeping willow from Harry Potter. I don't think I ever saw a tree that big...maybe just in the movie.

Shortly after we leave the tree behind, we enter Triacastela. Strange, I don't see and castle tower yet. I wonder where the tree castles are hidden. We'll go explore a bit later but until then we need to find a place to sleep.

I don't know if I told you before, but everyday after we reach an albergue, we take one, two hours of doing nothing, only if our stomachs aren't growling. While my folks are washing our clothes, I explore the albergue, I read or I play. Depending on the moment. 

Today however, I chose to explore the backyard and it was a good choice as I found a cat that was waiting for me to come and pet it.

After our rest break, we go out in the search of the three castles and we search for a while, until when the village ends. 

A local notices our bewilderment and asks us what we're looking for.

-"Well, something like three castles...or at least one.", says dad.

The man smiles back at us. He can't speak English but he shows us a church. 

Arriving next to it, we take a look on all sides. From the end of the street, the man smiles and nods his head in approval. 

And then I see them..

The symbols of the three castles are sculpted on the church's tower. 

I won't lie, I would've preferred some real castles, but I'll take what I got.

Back to the albergue we meet up with the pilgrims we shared the O Cebreiro sunset with. The dad and his boy, the man that stood next to us and the man that was sharing ear plugs. 

We have dinner together and then we gather on the green meadow in the albergue's backyard to share stories. 

From one story to the other we find out that the three castles actually existed, but now you can find only their ruins on the hills of Triacastela.

Oook, so this is why we did not find them. 

We also learn that the giant tree we found is and old chestnut of over 800 years. Wow!

Apparently it's very famous here on the Camino. Everybody has a photo with it.

The man that sat next to us yesterday knows a lot about the Camino. His name is Jose and he is from Florida. He says he's happy that we met again.

I let them talk some more while I run around with the Dutch boy. I did not get his name and we don't even speak. But when it's about playing, running and jumping in the grass, who needs talking? 

I got tired by all that running and I'm sleepy. In our small room are few pilgrims and although I complained this morning I can say I miss all that fuss.

I think about the people we talked today. They seemed like old friends since forever. Old like a 800 year old chestnut. Or a castle that was watching over from the hill. I imagine them tall, majestic and ourselves, a handful of pilgrims that have been known each other for a lifetime under the shadow of the three castles.