For a change, we had breakfast in Arzúa before walking.Most of the scenery today was in the forestsPilgrims were out in large numberswalking among the rootsSome farmland among the treesThe Camino is busier today than the autostradaThese cattle were changing pastures and were well under control….… for a good reason. She also had help from two well trained canine cowherds.A very large hórreo with larger steps for accessWe made a rest and OJ stop at this unusual bar/albergue. The hórreo spans across the Camino path.
Weather forecasts this morning were conflicted, so we took a chance to not start out in rainwear. We lucked out and walked rain free until we were safely indoors at our home for today.
Our second sampling of sangria on Camino2024 was shortly after we arrived at Albergue Turistico Salceda. It was delicious.
Albergue Turistico Salceda is truly a “home” for us. We have stayed here all 6 of our Caminos. We are welcomed like family. It’s not uncommon to see and engage with all the family.
The owner, his wife, their daughter, Lyudmila, her daughter Sanda, who is an artist and celloist, and her other daughter, Larisa, who has two young sons and helps to manage the Albergue with her mother.
The owner and his wife “drawing” with their two great-grandsonsLyudmila with her two grandsonsLarisa, her son and Lyudmila (Lucia)
Oh and by the way, the owner’s name is Santiago! And he’s also an excellent cook!
Santiago, rescued us in 2015 on our first visit by arranging for Linda to get treatment for some spider bites she had gotten several days before she had gotten here. He was genuinely concerned for her safety and went the extra mile to make sure she got timely and effective treatment. Whenever we have stayed here in subsequent visits he always needs to be assured she’s ok.
Lunch was a favorite of Linda’s and Jim had a very tasty ensalada mixta.A closer look at Linda’s favorite, scrambled eggs with apple and asparagus.
After lunch, we napped and read while our clothes were being washed and dried.
Dinner was at 7:00 in the Albergue dining area. We both had a tasty Galician Caldo (vegetable soup) which contained a variety of seasonal veggies.
Galician Caldo : included pasta, broccoli, collards, carrots, roasted peppers and zucchini,
Second course was ham and mashed potatoes for Linda, baked salmon and vegetables for Jim. We both had s chocolate cake for dessert.
We retired to our room full and ready for bed. We’ll check out and say our goodbyes in the morning.
We were anxious to get going this morning as we had a rough night with the mosquitoes in our room. Room cleaners typically open the windows to allow the floors to dry. Since checkout time was 8:30 and checkin time was 2:30, the little blood suckers had up to 6 hours to get settled and well hidden in our room before we were allowed in. The result was Jim getting several dozen bites in late afternoon and evening and Linda, who stays warm in unheated rooms by snuggling up with blankets in bed, getting only a half dozen or so bites.
So saying goodbye to our “upscale casa rural” was a good riddance.
Pretty sky as we left O CotoThe. square and monument in our first hamlet walkthrough, Leboreiro.Iglesia de Santa Mariaa medieval bridge in DisicaboTypical path for a couple of miles behind commercial/industrial buildings outside of Melide… more of the same.a short section through a wooded area just before the hamlet of FurelosWe crossed over this medieval bridge to Furelos
We walked up the hill from Furelos into Melide and stopped at A Garnacha, our favorite place on the Camino for pulpo (octopus).
We had our normal breakfast at our favorite pulpo place, (too early for us for pulpo, but not for several other patrons.)its always freshLeaving A Garnacha the Melide town center was busy on this Sunday morningWalking through Melide and heading back outback on the path out of Melide
a precarious crossing of this small streamwalking though a section of forested farmlandLeaving from a rest stop just before Boente
We reached a good stopping point at Boente after some 8 miles of walking. We took a taxi the remaining 5 miles to our place for the night in Arzúa (pop. 6,328).
We had a slight glitch in our logistics today. We booked what we thought was Pencion Elena, but we apparently booked Apartment Elena instead. So when we arrived at Pencion Elena, our packs were waiting for us, but our room was not.
After some shifting of packs and us, we had everything settled in Apartment Elena and our pack logistics all set to continue on from the correct location tomorrow morning to our scheduled destination tomorrow.
Relieved that we were finally back on track by about 3:00, we stopped at a familiar restaurant in Arzúa near our apartment for lunch/dinner, then retired for the rest of the day to do chores and rest… and blog.
For the first time in forever, it’s not supposed to rain today! All forecasts, claim there is a zero chance of rain during our walk. So, we put on our regular jackets for the 42F cool morning air, but Jim still put his rain poncho is an easy-to-get-to position in his day pack, just in case. One thing we know for certain, Camino 2024 provides, RAIN, whether you need it or not.
We turned the corner from our Pencion in Palas de Rei, stopped at the first bar for breakfast, then walked on through the town then back onto a dirt path.Linda walking past a small farm complex with a big hórreo,Linda about to get passed by a fast walking pilgrim (probably started in Sarria).
The first hamlet we walked through, San Xúlian (pop. 46), was very pleasant. We stopped at a popular bar/albergue, O Abrigadriro, for a rest stop and OJ. There was a long line at an outside table that had a sello (stamp) available for pilgrims to mark their credential.
Pilgrims were lined up to stamp their credentials. Starting from the 100km to Santiago, pilgrims have to get 2 different stamps per day on their “credential” (see next photo) to qualify for a “Compostela” (a certificate issued by the Catedral of Santiago) which proves you are entitled to the indulgences rewarded for the Compostela.Jim’s credential showing two stamps per dayAt the bar we snapped a photo of a pilgrim with a sign on the back ” Silencio”. Several other pilgrims were seen this morning with a similar sign. We’re not sure what it meant, but we hardly felt comfortable asked a person what their sign meant if they were pushing SILENCE!!! So we left it at that.The interior of the bar was very neat and attractive. The owners were as friendly and attentive as any we have seen thus far on the Camino Frances. Adequately rested and stamped, off we went.
The scenery and serenity of the next several miles is portrayed in the following photos:
This huge aloe plant was in an open pasture just before we reached O Coto. Anybody have a sunburn?O Coto, our destination for the day and our Casa Rural, Casa de los Somoza
The Casa de los Samoza complex includes a pretty park and a popular outdoor restaurant as well as upscale rooms for rent.
The following are photos of the park behind the restaurant and casa rural:
Our room was nice but a bit small for 88€.
double roomensuite bathroom
We had lunch and an early dinner at the restaurant. When we weren’t eating this afternoon, we were doing chores, blogging, reading and getting organized for tomorrow’s walk. We’ll be watching Braden’s consolation tennis match tonight, if our wifi signal holds.
We’ve had a lot of rain the past few days, but nothing to compare to the flooding and devastation occurring back home in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. We’ve been in contact with family and friends in Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. So far our family and friends have been very fortunate but for many others, it has been devastating.
A colorful fall garden along the road as we left Gonzar this morning. The Camino went left to zigzag through the countryside ultimately rejoining the road in about 3 miles. We took the road to dovetail with the Camino path in 2 miles.The road was not very busy and we watched for vehicles and they were watching for us, which was reasonably safe and saved us a mile or more of extra walking through the mud, puddles and manure.The path and this local road merged just before Ventas de Narón where we stopped for breakfast.leaving Ventas de Narón
The walk from Ventas de Narón to Ligonde was totally on a gravel path along a secondary road for about 2 miles.
tree farms and picturesque countryside yard art… big, fake mushrooms interesting real? floranice paths among the rolling hills The “pumpkin house”
Ligonde (pop.64) is a hamlet with a variety of homes and farm buildings. One lady always has pumpkins or other vegetables decorating her second floor railing. She’s usually looking out in her kitchen window and waves to pilgrims as they walk by, as she did to Jim this morning.
A nice house in Ligondetypical farm house add-onsWe stopped at this albergue in Ligonde. It had a resting area inside for passing pilgrims. One of the volunteers was there for two weeks and was an American. He was also from South Carolina… Inman, SC! (about 10 miles from our house!!)Grazing sheep in a field as we exited Ligondejust before the heavens opened up again.Our kind Spanish amigo posing with Linda in front of his garage
We were walking up the hill from Ligonde toward Exirexe ( pop. 23) when it began to rain heavily. As we were scrambling to get our ponchos on, a man waved from his open garage for us to come inside…which we did. We chatted as best we could with our limited Spanish and his limited English. We learned that he was in his late 70’s, he had retired from Correos, the national post office service, he had walked the Camino 7 times and they were getting an unusually amount of rain this year. It was a neat encounter and as the shower stopped, we snapped a photo and moved on.
more scenery snd pilgrimswalking and waiting the next showerpilgrims behind usAn apparent effort to transition from eucalyptus to evergreen treesRectoral de Lestedo… we have stayed here twiceThis small church in the hamlet of Lestedo has never been open on previous walks.. today it was open…and we looked inside… and walked on.
We stopped at an albergue in Lestedo to call a taxi to take us the remaining 3 miles to Palas de Rei, our destination for the day,
We checked in at 1:45 and immediately walked into town center for get our main meal for the day.
Linda had a pasta and tuna salad and Jim had grilled pulpo. We shared a plate of Padrón peppers.our restaurant for lunch near Palas. de Rei center
Our room is in a “pencion” called O Cabalo Verde. It has two twin beds and an ensuite bathroom. We were able to used the washer and dryer to get everything clean. Nothing fancy, but has all we need for a comfortable afternoon and evening.
In addition to our chores, Jim took advantage of the good wifi signal we had in our room and watched grandson, Braden compete in his 2024 ITA Mens Championship round of 16 match this morning in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (we watched his live 9:00 a.m. CST match here in Spain at 4:00 p.m.).
We waited for the rain to stop before leaving our apartment for a usual breakfast spot in Portomarin. The forecasts all indicated we had a non-rain window from 9:30 to 11:00.
Breakfast at Bar Gonzar in PortomarinThe view of the reservoir covering old Portomarin from Bar GonzarTwo showers occurred and then stopped while we had breakfast. When all was clear, we began walking down from Portomarín to cross the bridge going out of town.We walked along the river below us, then across the bridge then began the long climb up the Camino path.near center photo you can see a line of pilgrims walking toward the multi-storied house and up the mountain
As soon as we began the climb out of town another shower started and we buttoned up the ponchos. We did this off and on for the entire walk to Gonzar. All of the showers were only 5-10 minutes in duration, but were enough to completely soak us if we didn’t have our ponchos on. Once the shower stopped, we got too warm in the ponchos, so we unzipped and even removed them, then had to quickly put them back on again to stay dry.
The on and off rain showers got to be a real nuisance and interferred with what could have been a more enjoyable walk.
This was the long incline we took out of Portomarin.Amy’s trees ( Jim’s daughter did a painting of these trees which is hanging in Jim’s office among Camino memorabilia.)looking back at Amy’s trees from a “different perspective”The path paralleled the local, but busy highway much of the waya welcomed deviation from walking right next to the highway.a huge horreo in the yard of a resident in ToxibóA wet walk through this forrest giving us a break from the road.Pilgrims were out in large numbers todaypilgrims sometimes ride horsesThe final section of path along the highway has an actual railing to protect pilgrims, as we walked to our home for the afternoon and evening.A large contingent of pilgrims, mostly teens, had arrived ahead of us.the line to use the women’s toiletpilgrims gathering to get back to walkingtables starting to become available as the pilgrim group began to leavethe pilgrim hoards can be seen lining the highway as they vacated the restaurant of Hosteria de Gonzar.
When the pilgrim wave receded, it was 11:45 and Jim approached the manager as asked when we could checkin. He was told, 2:30. Ouch! So, we decided to have a leisure lunch, while we waited. The hours for food availability were until 4:00, then reopen from 6:30-9:00. We decided on pizza, but were told, pizza was not available until 2:00!
So, we ordered a Colacao and sipped it for an hour. Seasoned pilgrims must learn to be patient and conform to Camino norms, so we otdered a beer and a glass of fresh squeezed OJ at 1:30 and sipped again, slowly while reading, blogging, seething and being patient. At 2:00, Jim ordered a pizza. The owner responded in an un-understandable Spanish that he was going to give us a “primero” checkin and if we would come back after 2:30, we could order pizza. He also agreed to reduce our 4-bed room with ensuite bath (which was all that was available when we booked) from 78€ to 55€.
We immediately agreed to all terms, paid for the room, took our room key, gathered our packs and headed quickly to our room.
The rest of the afternoon went off without a hitch, including a pizza lunch and a green salad with goat cheese and walnuts. We picked up on our routine and passed the remainder of the day in our 4 bed room!
While the forecast still called for rain, it was not supposed to be as continuous as yesterday. so we started out without our rain gear.
We stopped briefly to look through the Rente gate in case someone was out and about. We have special memories of our stays here and savored the warm feelings as we walked on.
This section of the Camino from Barbadelo to Morgade is among our most favorites. In a relatively short span of 6 miles it contains a wide range of scenery, colors and terrain. it’s not overly challenging which allows an observant pilgrim to take it all in, if he or she wishes to. We walked through farms, hamlets, neighborhoods, pastures and forests. We walked over a variety surfaces: mud, stone paths, pavement, ivy covered stonewalls along dirt paths and concrete/graveled grades for traction. Jim found himself taking it all in and snapping photos not wanting to miss anything.
The rain started again after a half hour into the walk and rain gear came out.A relatively new stop that offers only light snacks and restrooms at our halfway point.a pumpkin patch and healthy looking gardenPilgrims were out in force this morning.Pilgrims, pilgrims, pilgrims
The morning was going really smooth. The rain became intermittent and very lightly, not really very bothersome at all.
We got to Morgade at 11:30 and got in line to check in. When it became our turn, our name was not on the reservation list. We said there must be a mistake and Jim pulled up the email we received from the property we received, back in April, confirming our reservation. It was clearly in order with one minor detail, it was for the 25th… of August!! And the receptionist pointed out that today was the 25th of September.
So, we went from getting to check in early to not having a place to stay for the night.
The receptionist began checking for nearby vacancies but with no success. Jim opened the Booking.com app and began looking in parallel. He found only one property available in Portomarin, 6 miles away. He quickly booked it and as soon as he had a confirmation, he asked the receptionist to please call us a taxi to take us there.
After exhausting the list of 6 available taxi drivers in the area, another hotel staff member offered another name and when contacted he said he could pick us up in 10 minutes.
The last detail was our transported packs, which were on the way to the Morgade hotel and we now needed them in the new Portomarin location.
Jim and the receptionist began to search the delivered backpacks and luckily, ours had already been delivered and Jim quickly picked them up and carried them to our pickup point for the taxi.
A few minutes later, we were in the taxi with all our stuff, on the way to Portomarin.
The taxi driver delivered us to the property in Portomarin, let us out and drove on. We went inside to check in, but quickly found out it was the wrong property. So Linda found a seat inside the wrong property reception with our two large packs and our two day packs while Jim took off to find the correct property.
A half hour later and an extra mile of walking for the day, Jim located the correct property, checked in, returned to reunite with Linda and our stuff and we both lugged our stuff to Le Casa de Manuel, an apartment, in Portomarin.
Linda in the main square of Portomarin with the Iglesia de San Nicolas in the background.
With all the excitement over and things beginning to get back under control, we decided to find a place to eat, leisurely, before taking on the routine chores for our typical Camino afternoon.
Linda ordered spaghetti and Jim ordered white asparagus and Padron pappers.the Padróns never had a chance!!’Our stop for lunch was loaded with pilgrims.
Our afternoon and evening went smoothly. Well we did have one more issue. When Linda got into the shower, she had no hot water. Not that the hot water was not hot, there was no water coming out of the hot water spigot… in the shower, in the bathroom sink or the kitchen sink. We contacted the owner after several attempts via Whatsapp and telephone calls and a couple hours later water began to flow out of the hot water spigot and it was actually hot, too. Showers proceeded along with other “chores”.
Because we had a kitchen in the apartment, we sliced the tomatoes we were gifted in Pintin and had carried, carefully without bruising for two days and had a late afternoon snack, Yum!
And so another interesting day on the Camino Frances came to a close.
Jimandi 