Looking back at our albergue as we departed this morning.La Puerta de Arzúa was about 1 mile from the center of town.Downtown Arzúa has lots of multiple story residences, office building and accommodations for pilgrims and tourists.This huge wall mural was painted to celebrate the Jubilee years of 2021-22.
The walk today is a little longer than usual and there are not a lot of options for breakfast during the initial few miles, so we stopped for breakfast before leaving Arzúa.
Our usual breakfast at a small bar just before leaving Arzúa.
Jim chatted with a nice family from Barcelona several days ago on our way from Palas de Rei. We ended up staying in the same pención in Melide and ran into them again as we were leaving Arzúa this morning. They agreed to pose for a photo as a momento of our multiple encounters. (The cart is to give a ride to their young daughter as well as carry items they might need during the walk.)
A nice family from Barcelona that our paths have crossed multiple times in recent days. Here we met once again as we were exiting Arzúa this morning.The Camino picked up on the edge of town and right away offered some pretty scenery.
In spite of not beginning our walk until after 8:00 a.m., when many pilgrims had already departed Arzúa, we, nevertheless began to have more and more groups of pilgrims pass us, much like yesterday.
Today seemed to be our busiest day yet on Camino2025… as shown by the following photos:
Note the group of 30 or so pilgrims up ahead that had just passed us.Large group up ahead, just passing us.More pilgrims coming up behind us with Arzúa in the background.A break in the crowd, that lasted a few minutes.A huge mass of humanity just passed us.As we climbed this hill, we were overrun by walking pilgrims, horseback riding pilgrims and bicycle riding pilgrims jamming the path.We took a breather from the hoards at this unique bar/albergue for some OJ.This group of 25 or so young pilgrims had matching orange shirts and worked their way past us,
We finally left the path and the never ending flood of pilgrims and took a narrow road for about 300 yards to reach our destination for the day, Albergue Touristico Salceda. It is our 7th visit and we’re looking forward to our reunion with the Lires family.
As we covered the last few steps, we walked by this huge, 200+ year old home, undoubtedly filled with an interesting history and reno possibilities, which for a brief moment tickled our fantasies. (We later learned that the house ownership is involved in family dispute and not likely to be resolved anytime soon.)Further down the road, we saw this strange structure. Could this be a modern day horreo?… a mystery that shall remain unresolved for now.And then we were at the front gate.Just inside the gate, one of several outdoor common areas on the property for guest enjoyment.The dining area and bar.Another common area and albergue in background.
We were immediately recognized by Lucia with warm hugs and happy greetings. A few minutes later, Santiago appeared and more smiles and hugs followed. It actually felt like a family reunion.
Sanda, Lucia’s daughter, who we had never met, had recently started working in the family business and checked us into our room.
Our double room with ensuite bathroom.
Our routine chores were lessened as we took advantage of the washing/drying service. So after showers we headed to the dining area for lunch.
For lunch Jim had Padron peppers. Only one pepper was hot and the other 30 were not, keeping with the trend that Spain’s Padron Peppers are losing their heat, but these still had the delicious unique flavor. Linda had her favorite: scrambled eggs, with asparagus and apple. We shared a tasty beef entrecôte with salad. The Mencía wine was another winner and we saved half the bottle for dinner.
The afternoon was spent doing the blog and chatting with the staff as well as pilgrims from Ireland, England, California and Idaho.
Dinner was at 7:00 p.m. and we had vegetable soup from local veggies in season. Linda had roasted chicken and Jim had salmon steak.
After dinner we chatted again with Lucia, Santiago and Sanda before taking a group photo, then called it a day.
Sanda, Santiago, Jim, Lucia and Linda.
What a wonderful day we had. A challenging walk, the anticipation of seeing the Lires family again and the warm feeling of renewing a special relationship.
LikeLoading...
2 thoughts on “Day 43 – Arzúa to Salceda”
I doubt it is a modern day horreo because it doesn’t appear to be vented. Without air flow any grain would quickly become moldy. DAVE
Jimandi 
I doubt it is a modern day horreo because it doesn’t appear to be vented. Without air flow any grain would quickly become moldy. DAVE
LikeLike
When I asked Santiago about it, he said it was for the owner when his wife booted him out… sort of like the guy’s “dog house”.
LikeLike