17 mile hill

This morning started early, I woke up at 3am then again at 5am and decided to get out of bed and start repacking my backpack for the day. We met in the hallway at 7:30 and set out in search of coffee for the morning. We found it, plus bocadillos with Serrano ham and cheese, they were so big that we saved half for later down the road. It’s not every day that you get an entire loaf of bread for your sandwich.

It was cold and still not fully light out even though it was past 8am when we started walking. We started through fields, villages, and farms which was really nice even as we noticed the frost on the ground and the way our breath spilled out into the air. 

 Before too long we had hit the 4 mile mark and it was time to look for second coffee, but we were either in rural villages or industrial areas and there were no cafes to be found. Eventually we turned back into the woods and headed up the beginning of brutal hills that would continue all day. Before we left I told everyone fondly about the ancient Roman roads that we would be walking. It seemed so romantic to think of stones laid thousands of years ago that millions of people have traversed. I’ve come to know these historical wonders as torture roads. Rocks sticking out of the hills that you’re desperately trying to breathe through as your friends chat and climb are significantly less inspiring than I thought they would be.

Fortunately at the top of several torture roads was a corner coffee stop that would have felt at home in San Diego. Açaí bowls, avocado toast, and happy music were all inside. We sat outside to shamelessly eat our avocado toast (which was delicious) and drink coffee number 2 for the day. 

We left feeling good, but it didn’t take long to start climbing again and I was struggling a little by the time we got to the 10k mark, although keeping a better pace than I usually do. 

If you’ve read from the beginning you’ll remember that a failed 10k is part of what got me here, and it was a good feeling to know that I was going to finish this without a doubt. 

We got a reprieve on the way into the city and enjoyed a nice cat break before going up more hills. 

Ordering from the kids menu

It’s the night before we walk into Santiago and so much has happened between now and when we left Porriño. 

We walked all day in a steady rain to Redondela where we checked into our much more comfortable and clean albergue and Carrie and Jo’l promptly sent me to bed to take a nap while they did a little scouting for dinner and snack shopping. I tried to argue, but they shouted me down and I slept a couple of hours that did a lot of good for healing. They told me about this restaurant they found that looked good but didn’t open until 7:30 so we went out for a walk to the pharmacy and to wander the city until dinner. When it was time to go eat we walked up and down the same alley over and over with Carrie and Jo’l insisting that the restaurant was there earlier and must have moved. Finally we found it, we had passed it at least three times. More octopus, creamy rice, a glass of wine, and comfortingly Alt-J were all on the table. 

The next morning we got up early for no reason because it doesn’t get light here until after 8 and it doesn’t get dark until well after 9. More walking in the rain brought us to Pontevedra where we stayed in a hotel so that I could be quarantined and we could all be properly dry for a change. Imagine a motel 6 room but for only one person so scaled down. That’s more or less where we were. We had dinner downstairs because it was too cold and rainy to explore beyond a block or so. The Spanish are very stylish, so naturally I immediately failed to meet that standard by going outside in leggings, flip flops, and a raincoat that fits like a sausage casing. 

Our walk from Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis was finally a nice one. It was cloudy off and on but the sun did come out on occasion and the rain was only intermittent. We blasted through those miles so fast after finally feeling the energy of not being sopping wet and freezing cold. It’s amazing what you can do when you aren’t soggy. We made such good time and had so much happy energy that we had time to check in at the albergue, go find tapas, explore the city in a leisurely way, and go grab dinner. Unfortunately Jo’l and I managed to accidentally order from the kids menu when we had the whole of Spanish cuisine in front of us. Who knew that grilled chicken and potatoes meant pan fried chicken with fries? That night we ran into the Irish group that was at the foot smelling albergue. Carrie had advised one of them to tape his blisters and hot spots with medical tape and though skeptical he did it with great results later. The lot of them were up singing half of songs they didn’t know until 11pm when the bar downstairs closed. One poor woman wandered the halls insisting that she lost her socks that were hung up to dry, but she and her friend were overjoyed to find her missing toothbrush. Meanwhile I had no cup to mix my dry medication into water so I just poured it into my mouth, took a swig from my water bottle, and swished it like mouthwash while Carrie told me that I was in so much trouble if I threw it up in the shared room. 

This morning we were up well before the Irish and had coffee downstairs before leaving to start the walk to Padrón. It started off misty and cold, but halfway through the walk the sun was out and we made great time again. Now that we’re in the last 100k the Camino is crowded with people doing the minimum to receive their certificate, and it’s become a struggle to stay away from the crowds. 

When we got in to Padrón we checked into our hotel (last night of quarantine!) and the woman at the desk surprised us with instructions for receiving a certificate from Padron. Padrón is a significant city in the history of the Camino, as it’s where they brought the remains of the apostle James ashore to begin the journey to Santiago. The church is built on top of the rock that they tied the boat to when they arrived. We went to see the rock, got a new stamp on our pilgrims passports, and took them to the office for processing. Gleefully poring over our certificates we went looking for dinner and found a pulperia tucked into an alley away from the crowds where we had the best wine and apple juice we’ve had so far. 

Tomorrow starts the ascent into Santiago, and it will be a difficult day. Not only is it long for miles, it’s mostly uphill and entering the city isn’t the last of it. 

A casual hit and run and a couple of frantic photo hours

In the last few days we’ve gone from Barcelos to Vitorino onto Ponte de Lima then to Tui and to Porriño. A lot has happened in that time, and it’s been a little chaotic. 

We left Barcelos in the morning with rain falling gently and a forecast for more all day, it was a soggy trek trough beautiful farmland, little villages, and then up a windy road through a small community. I’ve said before that I’m slow on hills and this was no exception, but we kept to our usual plan of everyone keeping their own pace and meeting together at the top before setting out again. Carrie and Jo’l had moved ahead and gone around a corner and a bicyclist came up parallel to me on the opposite side of the road. That’s when a car came down the hill going what felt like way too fast. The driver didn’t see the bicyclist until the last second and swerved to avoid him, unfortunately she overcorrected and hit me as she continued downward and I fell to the ground. She didn’t stop, and the cyclist came over to help me up. I was fine, and continued up the hill to meet Carrie and Jo’l before we all walked several more soggy miles to our albergue. That night we stayed at Casa da Fernanda, which was a delight. Animals ran through the yard, pilgrims chatted together as we sipped tea in Fernandas kitchen to warm up, and dinner was amazing. A real salad, soup, braised pork, octopus, and potatoes with garbanzo beans all went with her homemade wine. Stories were told, there was singing, and everyone went to bed happy and full, but also cold because it was freezing outside and there was no heat. 

The next morning we got up early just as the sun was rising and left for Rubiães, but after getting caught in a hailstorm we had to reasses our plan for the mountain. If we were home we wouldn’t set out for this climb in a thunderstorm, and it seemed unwise to do it in these conditions. We made a decision to continue on to Ponte de Lima which was beautiful and we wandered the town there for a bit taking advantage of the break in the rain. This also meant that it was time for frantic photo hour. Jo’l took out her camera and darted from place to place taking as many photos as she could before the rain returned. The pace really picked up when it got cloudy again, and we were given instructions like “stand there” and “trudge now”. I took the opportunity to drop in to the pharmacy to see about a cough that had shown up and a runny nose that was getting to be a problem. Armed with medication I went back outside, and Pretty soon the rain was back, and we took a taxi past the mountain to Tui. 

After being cold and wet for two straight days we elected to stay in the parador and get properly dry and warm before our next stage. It was great except for only Jo’l being able to figure out how to open her door. Somehow the door handle didn’t actually do anything and you had to turn the key a ridiculous number of times. At some point a maid took pity on us and came over to let us in, but our door opening skills didn’t improve and Jo’l had to coach us through basic room entry several times. 

Leaving Tui we headed for Porriño and walked in a steady but soft rain most of the day. I made the mistake of leaving my rain jacket unzipped and it elected not to keep water out after that, but walking in a sauna is hard too. Most of our walk was forests and the quiet streets of neighborhoods. We were treated to another round of frantic photo hour as there was a break in the downpour and we crossed ancient Roman bridges in the woods, but the rain came back to keep us in check as we entered Porriño. Our albergue is busy with little pods made up of bunk beds with curtains. It smells like feet, nobody cares about wearing pants, and Jo’l isn’t a fan after our previous accommodations. Unfortunately there isn’t a Eurostars location in Redondela, so we’ve already booked our next pod experience with hopes that it smells more like cleaning product. I snuck an entire roll of toilet paper into my pack from the parador and have been blowing my nose at an alarming rate since I woke up from a nap so I think that will be this evenings activity. Fingers crossed for a miraculous recovery in the morning! The healing fountain isn’t for several more miles.