Total ascent today = 984 feet
Cumulative distance = 430.2 miles
No blog yesterday, that's because we took a total rest day. But we were back on the trail today.
First, a few photos from our last hotel and from yesterday's rest stop.
Our hotel after reaching Sarria was an estate house that has its own chapel,
And enclosed cloister.
We were the only ones there, so had the dining room to ourselves. A little bit weird. Our hostess was very attentive.
The next morning we moved to a Posada de Portomarin Hotel for our rest day on Sunday. Sunday apparently is fiesta day in Spain. There were a couple parties going all afternoon. We caught part of a cultural dance and music show just below our window.
Now onto today's trek. We went back to Sarria to continue our hike where we left off. It's now important for us to get two sellos (stamps) in our credentials everyday because we are now just 100 km from Santiago de Compestela. The rule is that the credential is earned for hiking the last 100km or biking the last 200km. So before leaving the Monosterio de Madelina, we went inside to get our first sello for today. Then set off downhill next to the cemetery and crossed the Ponte Aspera (Rough Bridge), another old stone bridge.
The path wound on between the river, highway and railroad tracks.
Most of the day it was lined with mature trees, but it was pretty steep for the first couple of hours.
That gave us some good views at the top.
Dave says some views are better than others.
We are now accompanied by crowds of "new" peregrinos who joined the Camino in Sarria. 
The Camino was much more crowded today. People who don't have the time or inclination to spend two months hiking across Spain can start in Sarria and still receive a Compestela. There are even buses that bring people in to walk parts of the Camino.
It's a bit of adjustment for those of us who are used to solitude. We spoke with an Austrian woman at lunch who felt the same way. This was our cafe at lunch time today. We got our second sello here.
The villages we walked through today were still agricultural. There seem to be more cows in Galicia than people.
The young pup is learning the "herding" ropes.
We saw another photograph on a cross today. After looking more closely, I think it's the same one we saw a couple weeks ago. Someone must be leaving them as they go along.
Kinda' like spreading the ashes in the movie.
A couple hours after lunch, Portomarin came into view, still about 3 miles away.
After descending steeply, we reached the bridge across rio Mino.
The river was dammed in 1962 to create the Belesar Reservoir. The original Portomarin village and bridge are now underwater. However, before the flooding, the steps (part of the original medieval bridge) and the chapel they lead to, were moved to higher ground.
The 12th century church/castle, San Nicolas, was disassembled stone by stone and then reassembled on higher ground.
The building has characteristics of both a Romanesque church (barrel vault, rose window) and of a castle (the outer four corners are fortified).
Half a kilometer further, and we reached our hotel, shower, and nap. I sure do love nap time!
Tomorrow will be one of our longest hiking days, at over 15 miles. Looks like the forecast calls for a fine rainy day in Galicia.
No comments:
Post a Comment