Day 26. Up and down the Empire State Building

Today was a beautiful day for hiking as the sun came up shining in a blue sky. The valleys were full of fog, but most of today was above it all. The trails were good and well indicated with a minimum of asphalt. The ascents and descents were all manageable and I took it easy during the last 5 miles or so, detouring to Vilabade to catch the 15th century Iglesia de Santa Maria, considered a historic treasure. I stopped for a breather and a snack on the spacious grounds surrounding the church. There were also some other interesting historical sites along the way.

I am standing in front of the 14th century Hospital de Montouto which was open and housing pilgrims until just after the Spanish Civil War. I also walked by an ancient hamlet of stone buildings with thatched roof, or palloza, near Paradavella.

I stopped for a snack in Vilabade, an upscale village of nice country homes. The trail then led into Castroverde, my destination for today.

Upon arrival at the Pension Cortes, I was shown my room. I cleaned up in the world’s tiniest shower!

The afternoon thundershowers did not strike until about 5 pm today, a couple hours later than in the past few days so I had a bit of sunshine to dry my little pile of laundry and enough left over to sit in the hot sun and relax from the day’s efforts. It was about 21 miles and, according to my health app, I climbed the equivalent of 163 floors. That would be like walking up all the floors of the Empire State Building, taking the elevator down and walking up to the 61st floor.

Rain is forecast pretty much all day tomorrow so I am not sure I am going to do.