o cebreiro lo magnífico

we stayed in ponferrada two nights ago and left for the longest day yet -31 km (18miles) yesterday morning at 7:30 AM. We spent the first ten kilometers underneath a huge highway overpass through the mountains. after lunch we started the infamous final ten km up 2000 feet in the rain and mud. The views were incredible. As we were hiking we could see for miles and miles across the mountain. It was definitely a moving experience. after we finally made it we crashed in our rooms, and I made my way to a bar where I met some interesting characters. the first was a lady from london who definitely had the thickest accent I have ever heard. truth be told her parents were iraqi, but she was born in london. After we talked politics and culture for a while an Irish lady named Noel from Dublin joined in with Lynette and me. It was nice to have a break from the hiking and the weather. The little city was definitely a tourist trap as there were many buses with German, English, and Belgium tourists everywhere. There were all kinds of little shops with all kinds of junk for sale that had to do with the camino. We ate dinner together Galician style with octupus (pulpo), torilla española(spanish omlette), jamón(ham), ensalda griega(greek salad), y pan(bread). I don´t have much more time, but after dinner we enjoyed some good ol´ aggie dominoes and some warm colacao. The city was actually in the clouds, and as we walked back to our hotel the eerie glow of the street lights made us think of the locals´ghost stories that had been told after dinner. this morning we walked to tricastela where we are now staying in the albergue. It has been nice to have a little bit of free time to relax and reccuperate. We had a day today of only 12 miles (22 km). It has rained most of the afternoon, and sadly the computer won´t allow me to get pictures for today, so I will have to do more next time I can. I hope everything is going well, and there should be more soon!