Day 25: Fonfría to Samos

Started the day with a beautiful sunrise.

Followed by Santiago cake and zumo de naranja (fresh-squeezed orange juice) for second breakfast. While real food may be difficult to find before 7:00pm here, one can always find cake.

Walked along quiet country lanes through quasi-abandoned villages on the way to Samos.

Cue songbirds, wind in the trees and the sound of a lazily rolling river. This walk had Sunday afternoon written all over it.

Checked into my albergue, then fortified myself with a little afternoon snack of croquetas with fillings of squid, peppers, and cod. I found them surprisingly tasty.

Samos is known for its monastery, the Monasterio de San Julián de Samos.

Still an active Benedictine monastery, it was founded in the sixth century. Over the past 1300 years or so, it has been destroyed and rebuilt a couple of times.

The highlight of the monastery for me was the collection of wonderful murals that cover the walls of the cloister.

The sanctuary, too, is beautiful. I intended to go to mass, but dinner intervened.

Scallops and vegetables! So, so good. As you may have noticed, food plays a rather important role in my days. After all, hours of walking requires a bit of fuel.