Camino del Norte – Day 25 – Ribadeo to Lourenzá, 29km

2nd October, 2019

Day 25: Ribadeo to Lourenzá
Distance: 29km
Weather: Overcast and cooler
Accommodation: Albergue de Peregrinos de Lourenzá, €6

I don’t get seasick, but if I did, last night would’ve been grim 😉 The bunk I was on top of rocked and swayed with every breath my French bunkmate and I took. I dared not roll over for fear it would collapse!

I’m in Galicia now and it feels like it too. It looks greener and the hills are more rolling and hilly. The farmhouses are grander, even those that are crumbling. I’m also back in predominantly eucalyptus forests.

Galician countryside views

Camino waymarks on an old building

Just after Vilela, I pass a bar and stop for a quick coffee. After realising there’s no paper in the bathrooms and a quick request to the owner, I’m outside walking back to the toilet and clumsily drop the large roll of paper. Now I’m running after the toilet paper and from behind, I hear the sound of a man laughing. I meet Didier from France and blush as I pick up the paper and restock the bathroom.

Hydrangeas, roses and a beautiful Galician farmhouse

I’m pretty sure I’ve seen donkeys and cows everyday on this camino!

I catch up to Didier and we walk together for a few hours. “The girl who was chasing the toilet paper,” is how he describes our initial meeting! There’s limited services on this stage so we stop for a break at the next bar, after a further 12km in the small town of Villamartín Grande.

A charming colourful house

I wonder if this is for sale?

It’s another 8.8km to Lourenzá where I hope to stay at the municipal albergue (if there’s a bed available), but first I have to climb up Monte Calvario.

I climb, then descend into Lourenzá with Sigrid and we both get a bed at the albergue. Daniele, the Italian pilgrim who I shared my enormous baguette with before Gijón, is here too, and Barbara from Slovenia who I’ve met a couple of times. It’s my turn to cook so I head to the supermarket and come back with fresh ravioli, tomato sauce, parmesan, a bottle of Rioja wine and we use Sigrid’s chorizo and leftover vegetables from last night. It’s filling and it hits the spot. During dinner we meet a young German man called Philipp; it’s a full house here in the dining room and we chat and drink wine into the night.