{"id":5250,"date":"2014-11-17T19:42:03","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T18:42:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.the-raft-of-corks.com\/blog\/?p=5250"},"modified":"2014-11-17T19:42:03","modified_gmt":"2014-11-17T18:42:03","slug":"camino-de-invierno-san-pedro-de-lincora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-raft-of-corks.com\/blog\/camino-de-invierno-san-pedro-de-lincora\/","title":{"rendered":"Camino de Invierno – San Pedro de L\u00edncora"},"content":{"rendered":"

Camino de Invierno – San Pedro de L\u00edncora: Guillermo, 87 years old.<\/h1>\n
\"Church<\/a>

Church of San Pedro, L\u00edncora<\/p><\/div>\n

Pure joy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On a wet day after a very long walk with a descent of 400m and an immediate ascent of 300m, \u00a0I might not have expected to be as light-hearted as I was as I climbed up the vineyard-draped,\u00a0seemingly vertical, banks of the Rio Minho. This was my sixth day on the challenging Camino de Invierno. \u00a0In fact, I felt spritely because half-way up the hill I had stopped for a real<\/strong> meal, in a family-run Mes\u00f3n which had a welcoming fire burning in an old cast-iron stove. \u00a0I had been fed with pulpo and cocido followed by a solid nut tart, all home-made. \u00a0Others were drinking the wine produced in the cellar bellow the restaurant from the grapes which surrounded it and some regular visitors had travelled far to be there.<\/p>\n

\"Mes\u00f3n<\/a>

Mes\u00f3n o Adega de Viega, Belesar<\/p><\/div>\n

That was joy, but the pure joy was awaiting me further up the hill, nearer to the town of Chantada to which I was headed for the night. \u00a0As I reached the plain, some 150 m up from the mes\u00f3n, I saw a man with an umbrella hooked on to the back of his jersey, dragging the neckline half-way down his back, \u00a0As I neared him, he greeted me with an almost toothless smile and with eyes which embraced me warmly. \u00a0We stood chatting about the Camino, his life as a farmer, his cows – he was on his way to bring them home – his travels and his childhood and I was enchanted. \u00a0Then, as if to make complete the spell of pure joy, he sang me a song about the Camino to Santiago.<\/p>\n