17th June - Bar Julia to Meson do Novo.

Antonio drove us back to Bar Julia this morning. It is a narrow, winding road and we rocked and rolled as he took the corners, forever descending into the valley. We felt quite nervous about having to hike all the way back up to the top of the ridge.
Bob and John started walking first and Gail, Marlene, Finn and I followed. Penny was dropped at the top of the hill so she had a head start.
It took us an hour to hike up the 3km to the top. The first bit isnt too bad. Then there is a steep section, a slightly flatter bit on the tarred road,  followed by a steeper section on a forest path.
We were all proud of ourselves to make it without feeling too shattered.  John and Bob - who said he didnt think it was nearly as bad as people said it would be - were waiting for us at a picnic site but we decided to carry on and find another stop further down the road.
Eventually we arrived at a hamlet with a few houses,  one which was locked and shuttered. It had a wide, shady verandah which we thought would make a perfect place to stop.   I knocked on the door of the house across the road where a woman was mopping her front steps.  She told us that we co8uld have a rest there with pleasure so we spread our sitting plastics on the front steps and made cheese rolls with Membrillo.
Gail and Marlene dont like to pee in the bush so tbey always find a house with a kind owner and beg to use their loos. They used the loo across the road and we continued on our way.
Soon we arrived at Bruma and walked through the village to the albergue. It wasnt going to open till one but we thought it would be nice to get a sello here as none of the churches we had passed had been open for sellos. We gave our credenciales to John and Marlene and headed off in the direction of Meson do Vento, about 1.5km away. There are no arrows on this section so we made arrows out of stones for John and Marlene to follow.
When John and Marlene arrived about half an hour later they told us that the hospitalero had become very agitated and angry when he realised that we weren't staying in the albergue and refused to stamp the credenciales. He practically chased them away and had to be calmed down by a Spanish pilgrim. So, no albergue stamp for us on this route.
Bob had lunch at the hotel across the road, Finn and I walked to the Farmacia where I bought new sunglasses, and to the ferreteria to buy batteries.
After finding out that the hotel restaurant only served dinner at 8:30pm, we decided to stay at the meson and have a light meal there. We shared 2 bowls of salad, patata tortilla, bowls of tuna, platter of sliced ham and a plate of cheese. It was wonderful and she was very chuffed when we told her that it was the best meal we'd had so far on the Camino.