Monday, 1 July 2013

Rubiaes to Tuy-day 6 and we are going to make it!

Well , my friends would you believe it, we drew the curtains to find the rain had ceased and the valley was shrouded in light mist but the skies were clear so thoughts of a taxi ride faded away and we loaded up with the days requirements for a walk to Spain.

Breakfast was a more restrained offering than we had been used to but Brad  managed a bucket of hot milk and coffee! I think the hostess was fazed by the size of her mug. I shared some as the tea was awful.

We headed off just after 7.30pm for the last leg into Tuy.We cross from Portugal into Spain today and we can look forward to a rest day tomorrow.Yeah!

Mostly downhill for the early part of the day through the forest of eucalyptus,pines and cork trees and fairly muddy pathways. The creeks and rivers were high  so good to have our boots to cope with the conditions. Brad shed her Tevas for this stretch in favour of boots. I found my boots best for me all the way.It was nice to change into sandals at the end of the day
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Most of the day was through rural landscapes,small villages and cultivated small holdings.Still few animals to be seen but we did see some sheep with a couple of lambs.They only have sheep here for making cheese.

We walked on parts of the old roman road to Santiago,had a few cobblestones sections to endure and more asphalt as we drew nearer to civilization. It is sobering to think of the hundreds of pilgrims who have passed this way since the middle ages-their journey would be so much more demanding than today's pilgrim.We were passed by many cyclists doing their own camino and the greetings were in many languages-"buon camino" sounded to many dialects and languages but the intent was the same. You can also do it on horseback but we did not see anyone doing so.

We ate our apple and had a rest by the Romana da Pedreira bridge and  later had a coffee where the trail crossed the motorway at N-13.From then on it was cobblestones all the way until we arrived in Valenca for lunch to replenish our energies for the final push into Tuy(Tui).Eating here is very cheap so not losing weight as imagined!

We climbed up through the old walled fortress city of Valenca and came out the old way through ancient steps leading through the battlements carved from rock and down to the bridge which led us into Tuy.In times past pilgrims were ferried over the Minho River-it is a big river so there were probably a few mishaps over the years so thank goodness for a bridge now.

Our final stage took us across the border into Spain-no fanfare or checks on passports today just a sign to say you had shifted into another time zone. The fortifications of past ages were redundant in 2013 but tourists love the sights of the two towns and there is a vigorous tourist trade here between the two places.We will explore Valenca tomorrow.

We found our hotel easily today-Hotel Colon-whoever thought of that!After six and a half hours walking you just want to get those boots off and have a cup of tea with the feet up before heading out to explore the town.The catedral here is an impressive symbol of religious importance to the pilgrims and we were able to explore the interior chambers and the gardens later that evening. We climbed up to the highest point overlooking the city and enjoyed a people watching break in the plaza outside.
A good day out....