Thursday 20 June 2013
The sun shines-what a lovely sight to see. Cool as it turned out once we left the hotel replenished by the usual substantial breakfast from the assorted meats,cheeses,breads and cakes!
The taxi is going to take us out of the city this morning as this part of the camino is through industrial estates and heavy traffic so they by-pass this stretch of the trail and drop you off on the other side of Porrino in a wooded section of the trail so we were underway quite quickly.
We left at 9.15am and arrived at 3.00pm so there was enough walking anyway but new country, new images so we set off in high spirits,refreshed somewhat by our rest day and looking forward to our stay beside the sea at Redondela. Actually it was quite a way out of the town as it turned out: thankfully it shortened the following day's walk but it was beautifully sited right on the edge of the Ria de Vigo, the water just across the road from the hotel.I had planned a swim here but by the time we arrived it was so cold and wet we were wrapped in blankets in our room so little exploring done here certainly no swimming! Across from the hotel was a lovely old island just asking to be explored but no appetite for it tonight.
We ate in the hotel with our American fellow walkers who keep meeting up with us-lots of fun and refreshingly open to new experiences.More on them later. Stuffed pimentos were a taste treat here,the soup was a disasterIt is a comfortable hotel and outside my window the NZ cabbage tree is flowering-nostalgia.News from home is all about the snow and here we are wrapped in blankets-not what I expected at all. Tomorrow is said to be better weather.
Our walk today was a nice one -up the rio Louro Valley and over a steep pass from Mos up the Road of the Knights into Monte Cornedo and then downhill to Redondela and the sea. The views were lovely and much of the walk was on rural pathways through small holdings with lots of vegetables and poultry,citrus,grapes and colourful displays of flowers along the way.The men were out cutting big piles of wood-life is lived close to the land around here.Tools are primitive and we saw men using pitch forks to turn hay stooks, any machinery we saw was old and fairly low tech.
We could hear sounds of birds and church bells once we got away from the sound of motorways and airports but the air was fresh and it was good to be outside of the urban streets although it was important to top up there with a coffee from time to time.
Little shrines and statues,religious crosses are frequent and they are all beautifully cared for with fresh flowers,candles and adorned with stones left by countless pilgrims.Various saints are venerated in each region and here it seems Antonio,Sebastian and Christopher are important here.
The miles seem to slide by when you get started on the days walk but as time goes along your body starts a refrain of 'poor me'. It gets hard to ignore but it is part of the pilgrimage experience. Sore muscles emerge,cramped toes and aching joints start to play with your head but on you go-mind over matter. Today my knee is better than it has been mainly I think because it is softer walking surfaces on this stretch. Brad seems undaunted and soldiers on at a steady pace.We have both felt physically fit enough for the walk.no lack of puff to get over the passes and we have kept up with others on the way so pretty pleased about that,our training was enough.
We bought our scallop shells to attach to our packs here at an albergue on the edge of the town and made our way through the town and along the coast until we eventually found our hotel.Got to have the look right as we enter Spain.
Another day is put to bed.
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