Moonset on the Meseta

Moonset on the Meseta

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Sunshine, Finally!

We finally had some sunshine and a beautiful day of walking to Pontevedra. It got colder and cloudy as we arrived here.  But, hot showers and a warm room at Hotel Ruas, and a delightful late lunch at a tapas bar with local scallops in garlic, and pimientos padron before we explored the old city.

Three more days of walking to Santiago!  But feet and legs are aching, so early to bed this Saturday night.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Friday, March 28, near Arcade

We spent Thursday night in Pension Maricaibo in the center of Porrino, leaving before breakfast as no one was around at 7:30 a.m.

We walked out of the city in some interesting morning light, and even saw a few patches of sun on distant hills.  We were glad to leave the highways and climb through country lanes, hearing crowing roosters and seeing blossoming apple trees and budding grapevines.  At the charming, clean, pedestrianized hamlet of Mos, high on a hillside, we stopped for coffee, about two hours from Porrino.  There was an Albergue that probably would have been fine, as the location was so lovely.

A whole group of Californians arrived at the cafe, and we later encountered others on the steep climb out of Mos.  They were a group of 12 with one priest, staying in hotels and having their luggage transported.  They were young as well as old.

We rested briefly in a park at the top of the climb, and somehow missed the church just off the route, passed a Roman miliario (milestone), and made our way downhill for another couple of hours, sometimes on narrow lanes where cars traveled at breakneck speeds.

We had taken off layers on the climb, and put some on again as we descended.  It was fairly long slog along country lanes and then through suburban streets and along rather dreary roads to the old part of Redondela, where we encountered a woman on a bench who insisted on leading is through the streets,talking a mile a minute in Spanish or perhaps Gallegos, to the best cafe.

Unfortunately, the empty tables we found in the square belonged to a different establishment, so we ordered our ham and cheese sandwiches from them.

I connected with the cafe wifi
And found a reply in very hard to decipher English from Casa Anton to call the from Hostal Jumboli about, 3 km farther on, and someone would pick us up.  I wrote back that we were in Redondela and had no phone, but would try to get someone to call for us.

So an hour or less later a sleek car slows and a man says "Linnea" and he is a driver from the hotel, who whisked us here in minutes, talking nonstop in English and Spanish and giving us a tour, barely avoiding causing accidents. At the hotel door we were greeted and whisked upstairs to this lovely room overlooking the Rio Vigo.  Cold, though!

Up. And off to Pontevedra this Saturday morning.

View over River Vigo

Kent at lunch in Redondela

Thursday, March 27, 2014

In Porrino

After yesterday's long (for us) walk, we kept today's shorter.  We spent the night in a not especially comfortable albergue which we reached as the sun was setting.

Th day began with a wonderful breakfast in delightful Hotel Mercearia.  We walked across the Ponte de Lima in early morning light.  The walk included the highest climb of the trip on a rugged rocky path.

We reached what we had intended to be our night's stop by 2 pm, which was much too early.  There was no one at the albergue, and nowhere nearby to hang out, so we kept on walking, identifying, 3 other possible stops, two of which turned out not to exist.  So, we ended up having to go much farther than we'd dreamed we would.

Most of the walking was through lovely forests, fields, and small villages.

Today was different, although the huge old fortifications of Valenca were impressive.  We crossed a long modern bridge into Spain, spent time wandering and climbing hills in medieval Tui, then did lots of road walking with some nice forest paths and old stone bridges in between.

Tonight we are in industrial Porrino, got clothes washed in a laundry, and are enjoying a rather small room in a little pension after a dinner that was more an we could eat.

Weather continues mostly cold and cloudy with patches of rain, requiring constantly changing layers.

My cold is much better, although I am still taking medicines it.

We look on track to arrive in Santiago on April 1.

All the way to Valenca

We ended walking over 30 km and (over 20 miles) yesterday and have reached the Spanish border.  Cold, but we are doing well. More later. Setting off to walk now.