El Acebo moment!

Ahhhh stories!!  I told you all earlier about the Naked Pilgrim...well, stories do travel up and down the pilgrim path...sometimes with amazing speed!  I mentioned the story to someone else and they said, "Oh yes, we´ve heard about the naked pilgrim!".  At this point I nearly had an accident!  I had to let her know it was a story I´d made up to keep a friend and myself laughing along the way when it got too hot or just too!  Too funny!

So, now for the second coming!  Yes, ya´ll read right.  El Acebo is a lovely quiet village up in the mountains with the most amazing views and a number of wonderful spots to stop and have a drink, or stay the night.  I choose both.  The Parochial Alburgue was very very nice, our hospitelero, Pedro was wonderful and was there without ever being intrusive.  We had a fabulous dinner of pasta, cooked up by two fellow pilgrims from Italy.  Everyone had more than enough to eat, followed by a bowl of the most lovely green apples for dessert.

Now for those of you who have been in El Acebo, you may remember the cross in the park at the end of the village?  Well, it is "the" spot to watch the sun go down over the mountains and view a bit of your next days walk down into the valley of Astorga.  I found the spot, alone, and unintruded upon.  This in itself can be quite a feat somedays of the walk, so I was really enjoying the absolute quiet and the sun slowly setting.  After a while, I got more than a little chilled, so I chugged on back to the Alburgue, grabbed the blanket off my bunk (top bunk with the pillow arranged so I could look out the window at the amazing view!) and toddled off to the cross again.

Now here I should explain a bit.  The cross is rather large.  It sits on a three tiered platform of stones.  My blanket was exactly the colors of the stones.  I had on a tan/brown jacket with a hood.  I can sit really really really still.  For a long time might I add.  So there I was, listening to nothing more than the beautiful birds, the breeze and my own thoughts.  Till.  The dogs at the house behind to my right began to bark with a vengance.  They were really going to town.  So I thinks to myself, what the heck, others are coming, I have had nearly an hour to myself, so take this as a sign to go to sleep!

So up I stand, and start back towards the Alburgue.  There is this sudden commotion.  There are two guys there with cameras...jabbering away at each other.  WTF!  Ok girl, keep your eyes down.  Just DON´T make any eye contact, these two are whacked.  And so hood still pulled up, blanket wrapped around me, I kept silently walking.  They keep dancing around taking pics..nut jobs!  Till I come even with them and one asks do I speak English?  Uh...yeah! 

So now it´s my turn to be shocked.  He shows me from his view point, what happened. They were walking towards the cross at a few minutes before sunset.  There is the cross up ahead.  Suddenly from the base of the cross a figure rises.  All in silhouette mind you!  Wrapped in a "robe" with a hood.  Looking for all the world like something (someone!!) rising from the dead.  Or maybe Mary sitting at the foot of the cross...but anyhow, the laugh was totally on me in the end! I haven´t seen them again.  So...if ya ever see a pic of El Acebo and the second coming....you know who it really is.  And my advice would be .... RUN!  Cause I was a tired Perigrina, in need of a bed to sleep and not in a great mood at that moment!!