Here we are leaving our accommodation for yesterday and last night in Palas de Rei.Soon after leaving Palas de Rei we began a day of “ups and downs”. Although there were a few level parts, we were either walking up a short-term steep grade or descending a path/wash riddled with rocks and erosion.An up-close view of a horreo, a component of nearly every private home we walk past in Galicia. Some are merely decorative but must appear to be functional. A horreo is a rectangular stone corncrib that is elevated off the ground to protect the corn from vermin. It was also used to store wheat, giving protection from moisture (ventilation) insects and birds.A group of pilgrims leaving a nearby Palas de Rei albergue and beginning their walk for the day… probably to Melide.After finishing a somewhat strenuous hill climb, the path began taking us back down.After crossing the local highway, down we go again.…. and down.… still down to the village of San Xulián ( pop.46). As pilgrims, we must be constantly aware that we are walking among farms and therefore must watch where we step!
We had a nice breakfast and rest stop as well as getting our credentials stamped as we are required to collect two stamps per day to qualify for a compostela when we arrive in Santiago.
Finishing our breakfast in San Xulián and Bar Albergue O Abrigadoiro.Leaving San Xulián “square”.A scarce and short LEVEL section of Camino during today’s walk as we moved on from San Xulián.Back on the dirt path and going downhill.… and back uphill……more uphill…… and back down again…… and down…… a level section…..,more downhill…and a final, long push uphill toward O Coto.Just before O Coto, we walked by this auto parts junkyard. What an interesting way to display/advertise and organize inventory.We were satisfied with our walking challenge for the day when we arrived at O Coto, just a tad over 3 miles from Melide. We stopped to recharge our batteries with an omelette for Linda and eggs, fries and chorizo for Jim.
After our tough walk yesterday and a still challenging one today, we decided to enlist a taxi to take us the remaining 3 plus miles into Melide.
Our room in Melide, Pensión Orios, our 3rd visit.
Pensión Orois is located at town center in Melide. It is a functional, reasonably priced accommodation. It has a washer/ dryer room just outside our door, which we took advantage of to get all our clothes cleaned for the next several days.
While shopping for afternoon snacks in Melide, we found this Mencía wine for the incredible price of 5.95€. It was very nice and we sipped it along with our afternoon snacks.
Pensión Orios is only a few steps from restaurants, ATMs and other services, including multiple eateries that offer the Melide specialties of pulpo and Padrón peppers.
We had a “light” evening meal at 5:00 p.m. at A Garnacha Pulperia.Pulpo, Padron peppers and sangria fit the bill for a “light” dinner to complete a memorable day on the Camino Frances.
Our quest to find “hot” Padron peppers in Spain is still unfulfilled. None of the peppers we had tonight at A Garnacha were hot, providing another data point that Spanish Padron peppers have lost their heat.
The conclusion to Camino2025 is fast approaching with our next milestone being Arzúa.
Leaving Gonzar this morning, it was 59F and foggy.The traditional Camino path heads off to the left through several small hamlets without services and many abandoned buildings and ruins. The road to the right is lightly traveled, has a good shoulder and smoother walking surface. We have opted for the option on the right since 2022.This was the typical look as we walked along the road for about 2 miles.The two options merged at this traffic circle and an albergue in the background.Immediately after the circle and inspite of poor signage, we took this small paved road leading to Ventas de Narón.The dirt path and the paved road were about the same width and gave us a choice of walking surfaces, as the traffic was quite low.
The year 820 was an important one for Ventas de Naron, and for Christian Spain. For Ventas, it was the site of a battle between the Muslim and Christian forces. The Muslim forces aimed to expand their territory to the north and the Christians, led by the Asturian King Alfonso II the chaste, sent them back. For Christian Spain, it was also the year that the bones of St James, the Apostle were rediscovered in Santiago. Not long after the very same Alfonso would become the first pilgrim (the primitivo), would verify the relics, would build a church to house them, and would set in motion a chain of events that would see the remaining Muslim forces defeated.
A section of ” fence” we saw as we walked along the road into Ventas de Naron.Our breakfast spot, O Cruceiro, in the village of Ventas de Naron. (pop.120).A few hundred yards from the present location of the Chapel of Mary Magdalena, a hospital was built in the late 13th century and controlled by the Knight Templar. When the Knights were eliminated, the Benedictines took it over, but by the end of the 19th century the building had collapsed and some of the stones were used by local residents to build the Chapel.Leaving Ventas
From Ventas we climbed a steep hill then passed through the small hamlets of Prebista, Lameiros, Ligonde and Exirexe.
The path and road continued through mostly pastures and occasional corn fields and potato fields.We stopped for some OJ and a brief rest stop at this relatively new bar in Prebista.Nice set of horns on these two bulls just before LameirosWe made another brief rest stop in Ligonde. The house above has intrigued Jim. On all 7 Caminos, including today, this house in Ligonde has always had some type of decoration of pumpkins, gourds, tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables placed along the railing. She can often be seen in her kitchen window looking out at pilgrims and occasionally waving or otherwise acknowledging us as we pass by. She waved in answer to Jim’s wave today.This field is at the exit of Ligonde and frequently contains ducks, chickens, goats and other critters. On the opposite edge of this field is a rocky, narrow path/wash designated as the Camino. After walking it on our first Camino in 2015, we have taken the road that merges with it at the bottom of the hill, as we did today. No harm, no foul.We have ignored talking about the continuing onslaught of young pilgrim groups on the Camino today. Nevertheless, here’s an example of how they can monopolize a stopping point or services also sought by individual pilgrims.The Camino was also busy most of the way on today’s walk, but with a greater balance between groups and individuals, and did not seem nearly as intrusive as yesterday.As Linda waited for the taxi at A Paso de Formiga, she had no fear of the giant insect sculptures just a few feet from her bench, now hiding in the overgrowth of the bar’s outdoor seating.
When we reached O Portos, we decided we had walked enough for the day and called a taxi to take us the remaining 3 miles to Palas de Rei.
When we reached Palas de Rei, our room was not ready until 1:30, so we settled in at a nearby and familiar restaurant and split a pizza at noon … then, still hungry, opted to have our main meal before checking in at nearly 2:00.
This is our 3rd time staying in Palas de Rei. The other 4 Caminos, we have stayed in Lestedo, near where we called for a taxi today. No accommodations were available for today, in Lestedo, when we were making our reservations in Feb/Mar.
It’s difficult to explain, but we dislike Palas and prefer to walk through it or just get breakfast here, and not stay here.
Our room in Palas de Rei.
Our room is pleasant and has all we need for the afternoon and evening, since our goal is blogging, reading and making the minimal preps required for our walk tomorrow.
We started the day at 7:15 when a taxi met us in Morgade and took us to Portomarín, some 6 miles away.
Portomarín is a major stop/starting point for pilgrims who only walk the last 100 km to earn a compostela by walking to Santiago. It can house large numbers of pilgrims. Tourist buses abound to bring pilgrims in or advance pilgrims along the next 100 km. In our experience, most of the pilgrims are high schoolers, traveling in large (20-50) groups with a few adult chaperones per group.
We stopped at a traditional bar for breakfast and greeted the owner who recognized us.
We had breakfast here, for our 7th visit!
Today’s walk was all about pilgrims, hoards of pilgrims!
Walking from Portomarin down to cross the bridge and join the Camino.The far bridge crosses the reservoir that covers old Portomarín and joins the uphill path of the Camino (the path runs behind the large white building and up into the forest).From the “Camino” bridge you can see the reservoir that covered Old Portomarín in the 1950’s when a dam was constructed downstream.Soon after beginning to climb the mountain going out of Portomarín a large wave of young pilgrims appeared behind us.As the wave engulfed us and then moved beyond us, these were the last in the group of 50 plus pilgrims.We got a breather as the first wave cleared the top of the mountain.Our breather continued as we walked past “Amy’s trees”. Jim’s daughter, Amy, painted this scene from a photo Jim took several Caminos ago.Shortly after, another group of pilgrims began passing us and when we looked behind us…… the rest of the group and perhaps others followed, as far back as we could see!After walking for nearly 2 hours from Portomarín the pilgrim traffic began to return to a “normal” level.We actually seemed to be clear of the several hundred, mostly high school aged pilgrims that had been overtaking and passing us since our start in Portomarín.We actually walked past one pilgrim as we approached Gonzar.
We knew that Hosteria de Gonzar was a popular rest stop after Portomarín and hoped that we had walked slow enough to allow the mass of pilgrims to stop and then move on by the time we arrived, as it is our destination for the day.
We were elated when we saw what we thought was the rear guard of the massive wave exiting the restaurant portion of the Hostel.But, many still remained outside and others filled long lines inside waiting to purchase food, get their credentials stamped or use the restrooms.
So, it was early, so we found a couple of chairs under a tree with a cool breeze in the back of the property overlooking the pool and chilled for the next half hour allowing the remnants of the wave to disappear back onto the Camino and let our Camino return to normal.
This is our 4th visit to this property. When the lines dwindled, Jim ordered drinks for us and was recognized by the owner. He said he would come get us as soon as our room was ready. A few minutes later we were in our room and getting into our routine and waiting for our transported packs to arrive.
Hosteria de Gonzar is a relatively new (5 years) albergue and we feel very comfortable here. Having food available most of the day and a complete array of services that meet our needs make for a relaxing, restful stay… so we settled in quickly.
Ensalada mixtas for both of us, chicken for Linda and tender beef steak for Jim with house wine (Mencía) and cheesecake for dessert.
We had our main meal at 1:00, completed our chores, made plans for tomorrow and returned for a light snack at 6:30 before calling it a day.
Our Padrón pepper snack. Non of these Padrons were hot. A chef in Rabanal told us the Padrón peppers in Spain were no longer hot (1 in 10 is normally hot). This was our first batch and he appears to be right, based on our sampling.
We walked out of our room onto a narrow, paved farm road and eased our way among small farms with emerging plantings and large, healthy-looking cattle and horses.
The Camino took occasional breaks from the paved road and treated us with short walks through forest canopies, stone walled pastures and small hamlets such as Rente, Leiman, Peruscallo, Cortiñas, Lavenderia, Casal and Brea. Only Periscallo and Brea had services.
Just before Rente, we reunited with the two ladies we met at the León train station over two weeks ago! We hop-scotched with them between Rente and Brea, then separated as they were walked faster and had further to go than we. We also saw Ruth again when we stopped for breakfast at Peruscallo and a snack at Brea. We may have mentioned earlier that Ruth is living in the Netherlands and is originally from Arkansas.
Ruth snapped this photo of us about to maneuver passed a small stream.Jim letting faster walking pilgrims to move ahead of us.Stone bordered pastures were common in today’s walk.A short walk through a forested area between hamlets.Large numbers of pilgrims frequented the path today, most of them were beginning their walk from Sarria… walking only the last 100 kilometers to qualify for a compostela.Arriving at Morgade, our destination for today.We both had ensalada mixtas and local Mencia house wine for a light, but still filling main meal for the day. The staff at Casa Morgade were very friendly and professional and offered a variety of food options available throughout the day.And our room was very nice, clean, spacious and well equipped (electric outlets, modern bathroom) with a large window with a view.An unusually pretty flower growing in front of Casa Morgade along the road.We took a break from afternoon chores and naps to sample the Casa Morgade sangria. Yum!
It’s our second stay at Casa Morgade and one of our most favorite places to stay on the Camino Frances.
It was foggy when we left Pintin at 7:45.We picked up the Camino as it morphed from the farm road to the dirt path through the forest.We emerged from the forest after a mile or so and walked on a dirt path along the road on the way to Sarria.We walked a couple more miles parallel to the road until making a brief breakfast stop just outside of Sarria. A relatively newly renovated bridge in Sarria and picturesque view of town center along the Rio Sarria.
We continued through Sarria taking an alternate route, discovered several Caminos ago. Rather than climb up the steps on the traditionally marked route and reaching the peak where several important churches were disappointedly inaccessible (locked) and then descending to the opposite side of town to the Roman bridge…
The beginning of the steps and incline of the Camino through Sarria center.
… we merely walked around the base of the hill and joined panting pilgrims at the Roman bridge on the way out of town.
walking around around the base of the hill through Sarria town center.Arriving at the Roman bridge to exit Sarria.The Camino went through some pretty corn fields and along the railroad track.Newly planted corn was an interesting change for our first spring Camino. When we’ve walked previous Caminos, these fields had corn 6-8 ft tall!The Camino headed into a chestnut forest. Here Linda is crossing a pretty stream at the base of a steep climb up the side of the mountain.A steep gradeHuge chestnut trees… ” one foot in front of the other” to make it up the steep climb.Finally, reaching the top and a welcome switchback onto relatively level ground again.We walked another half mile through some recently mowed fields and into the hamlet of Barbadelo.
There is not much to Barbadelo. We’re staying at Casa das Airas, an extension of the only albergue and only available restaurant in the hamlet.
We waited until 1:30 to be checked-in, had a light lunch from the breakfast menu and crashed in our rather bizarre private 4 bedroom accommodation with a private, unattached bathroom. The bathroom water was not drinkable, according to the posted warning sign in the bathroom and the electric sockets were difficult to access… among other issues.
We made the best of it, looking forward to the much nicer accommodation reserved for tomorrow.
Linda walking out of Casa Nuñez this morning.Rejoining the Camino dirt path as we left Fonfria.A few minutes beyond Fonfria, raindrops began to fall from the threatening clouds above us. Linda put on her rain gear but Jim guessed (hoped) it might blow over.The raindrops were non-committal and we continued walking. These handsome cattle seemed to not be aware that there was a decision to be made… one way or the other.We arrived at Biduedo (pop.31) and our traditional breakfast stop was open.Breakfast at Casa Quiroga was predictably good.Linda decided to re-pack her rain gear due to still non-committal raindrops, as we completed our rest stop.We also made our traditional photo op at the Camino’s smallest church, before leaving the small farming village.
Keep in mind, since Cebrerio, we’ve been walking along the top of several Galician mountain ranges in the range of 4000-4500 feet above sea level. Once we walked out of Biduedo, it became apparent how high we were and the challenge we faced today.
Our first view as we walked out of Biduedo.And then even more was revealed.We walked along a ridge for over a mile.Our view off to the right was breathtaking.It was a perfect day for viewing for miles Last year, all we saw was fog… today the view was revealed in it’s entirety.We walked, stopped, then looked, walked, then stopped and looked some more. Each view seemed more captivating that the last.… we didn’t forget to look away from the views occasionally to enjoy the colors along the path.…more colors…… more color and even a bee!Finally, we were reminded we had hard work still ahead, as the path turned downward.Heading down.and down…and down….Two dimensional photos can’t show how steep this was, requiring poles in places to keep from falling forward. Triacastela, our destination, can be seen in the center of the photo, still off in the distance and another 1000 ft below.At an elevation of 3120 ft, we reached Fillobal for a break and a snack and hopefully to greet a friend.The only eatery in Fillobal and, arguably, the best tortillas on the Camino and offering other delicious specialties of the house, we highly recommend “Aira do Camino”.Rosa, our host and friend for multiple Caminos and owner/operator of “aira do camino”.Rejoining the dirt path after Fillobal, we walked among the roots!Continuing down …crossing the road then returning to the path… continuing down from the mountain.…Making way for bovine residents changing pastures in As Pasantes.As we passed through Pasantes, the heavens finally and without warning opened up.Linda quickly geared up for it and Jim, balked, deciding instead to move from one chestnut tree canopy to the next and managed to stay relatively dry as the downpour subsided after less than 5 minutes.Stubbornly, still not wearing rain gear.We gave our regards to the 800 year old chestnut tree in Ramil and continued on to Triacastela.Another feeble attempt by Jim at a selfie as we arrived in Triacastela (elev. 2184)
We stopped at a bar/restaurant/pención for our final stop, called for a taxi to take us to Pintin and Casa Cines, our destination for the day. This saved us an additional walk of 7.2 miles, enabling us to walk another day (tomorrow) after today’s downhill walk… descending over 2000 ft.
We were welcomed like family when we walked into Casa Cines and enjoyed our 7th visit with this nice family and welcoming, generous hosts.
Their traditionally good food and restful atmosphere helped us recoup from our strenuous morning and made for another satisfying day on the Camino Frances.
Jimandi 