Melide to Ribadiso (Camino de Santiago)

June 7, 2012 The rain and wind pounded against our rooms window all night. I had planned for us to get an early start as per the normal routine but with the nasty weather it didn’t make sense. We only had eight miles to walk for the day so we just stayed in bed until after sunrise and left the room a little after 7am. It was sprinkling and the wind had dropped down to just some heavy gusts. We had a short walk out of town though Beck wasn’t feeling too well (our octopus dinner?). Once we entered the woods on the outskirts of town the path was mostly dirt through a grove of fragrant eucalyptus trees, such a wonderful smell with the morning dampness. We were ahead of the hordes of pilgrims so we had most of the days walk alone.  One small village cafe was open for a rest break and we took our time and enjoyed the rest. It was only a couple hours more before we arrived in Ribadiso and easily found our pension. Luckily we only had about a half hour of rain just before we arrived into town so the weather held off for us. We each took a nice hot shower which removed the days damp chill and took a short nap.  Towards evening we found a small cafe with a wonderful sweet family who made us feel welcome. We had a couple of salads and tried the villages creamy cheese which it is known for. Greg arrived in town and joined  us after almost a week of not seeing him and the three of us caught up in conversation over two amazing bottle of rioja wine. Evening ended early with us heading to bed around 7:30pm. Tomorrow will be a much longer day of walking. Journal: ” The wind and rain was torrential. I lay in the darkness torn between waking and exiting into  the storm or staying in the warm bed with hope that it would lighten up. I so enjoy the tempest, always have. To find a small shelter and watch the wind whip the trees and hear its roar is one of my favorite things. This morning as the rain pounded against the window pane I thought what a nice memory this will be as I lay gazing outside. .. Spain.”