OCÁDAVO-BALEIRA – LUGO
The heavy mist which covered the town during the night quickly lifted up and the day became cloudless and clear again. Often, the path followed a tiny asphalt road, luckily with no traffic on it. The first rest I took was at the Capilla del Carmen, a little chapel in the middle of a gorgeous oak forest with many picnic tables underneath. I was the only person there.
Soon I came to a pair of shoes on a trail marker. I knew the shoes – they belonged to the pilgrim Gabriel. The bottom of one shoe was almost totally worn off with a big hole in the sole. It was to me as if Gabriel himself was standing on the column and sending his greetings to the passing pelegrinos.
When I passed a barn, an old man started to talk with me. He invited me into his barn where he had exhibited hundreds of little very primitive carved figurines. He spoke some German. I was so touched by his effort to create something that I bought 2 little things. A third creation he gave to me as a present.
In the town of Vilabade, the beer company Estrella Galicia was using the Camino for a clever advertisement.
A little detour brought me to the highlight of the day -a forest with several hundreds of years old chestnut trees and a Preromanesque chapel with an interesting window formation.
In the evening, I arrived in Lugo, a remarkable town going back to Roman times. The Roman town was called Lucus Augusti and served as the capital of the province Gallaecia. The old town is still surrounded by a totally intact Roman city wall. This is due to the fact that already in the 16th century, the government was issuing a law that not a single brick was allowed to be removed from the wall. Today, it is dedicated as a World Heritage Site.
