O Cebreiro to Tricastela

When I look back on my time on Camino, I know this day is going to shine through as a highlight.

We had it all.

Mountains. Check.
Glorious views. Check.
The whole gang together for a picnic. Check.
Awesome tunes. Check.
Dancing. Check.

We began with a steep climb to the tiny village of O'Cebreiro, there was snow on the ground up here and we rewarded our efforts with a hot cup of coffee.

Knowing this was the last time we'd be this high up in the mountains I suggested we all walk together today and have a picnic.

Sometime I have the best ideas :-)

We chose an incredible spot, in the shadow of one mountain and overlooking a bunch of others. Despite patches of snow everywhere, it was warm, the sun was shining and we all stretched out to enjoy the afternoon and some INCREDIBLE tunes courtesy of DJ Abdal.

I'll also remember this as the moment I witnessed an actual French woman (Ines) go full Edith Piaf and give us a resounding rendition of Je ne Regrette Rien, swinging arms gestures and everything.

At that moment, Je ne Regrette Rien pretty much summed up how I was feeling.

I lay side by side with Janne, who made me a lovely ring out of grass (I told you she was multi-talented) - I could spend hours chilling with this girl!

Afterwards I got snap happy and went round snapping photos of my snoozing pals as they enjoyed this little slice of heaven with me.

When we finally managed to drag ourselves off the grass, we set off together for Triacastela, music playing all the way, with Abdal throwing everything at us from Muddy Waters to Sum 41.

By now you'll know I'm not exaggerating when I tell you I danced the entire rest of the way.

Back at the hostel, I'd made some fairly substantial promises about cooking English breakfast for everyone for dinner.

Have you ever tried cooking English breakfast, alone, with ingredients from a tiny Spanish supermarket, for 14, including a vegan a Muslim and a wheat intolerant, when you've spent all your energy dancing down up and down a mountain?

It's a tough gig!

And the Spanish's weird excuse for bacon did not help... but everyone got fed and we had the French girls' AWESOME 'lost bread' dish for dessert - essentially eggy bread with a tsunami of melted chocolate.

Exhausted, I curled up on the sofa with Manon, Ines, Davide, Janne and Martine where we listened to music and I schooled Davide in the joys of The Graduate soundtrack and the Scottish dialect, courtesy of passages from Train Spotting.

A seriously chill end to a seriously brilliant day :-)