"If everyone in the world took care of each other the way folks do out on the trail, and if everyone approached each day with as much hope and optimism as hikers do, the world would be a better place.”
― Jon Tullis
The quote above is about the Pacific Coast trail, but it applies to the Camino as well.
After a wonderful breakfast purchased by Jose to make up for the booking issue, we headed back up onto the Camino and we'll walk North until Thursday.
The days are a little shorter by design but they seem easier and easier as each day passes. For you Fitbit people, my Fitbit buzzes every day about 9 am to tell me I've got my goal of 10,000 steps in for the day. We've been averaging close to 35,000 steps a day.
The town name means "the old bridge", in reference to an old Roman bridge across the Lérez River which has been replaced supplemented by the "new" bridge built in the 12th century.
The first stop in town is the Igrexa da Virxe Peregrina" (Church of the Virgin Pilgrim). A very unusual mix of the Santiago and Fatima Caminos.
At one time this was the largest port in Galicia. The Christopher Columbus ship Santa Maria, originally named La Gallega, was built in Pontevedra.
If you are looking for wine from this region, look for Rias Baixas.
There were several beautiful sights in town. In addition to the Church of the Virgin Pilgrim there was the Basilica of Saint Maria Grande, and the Convent of San Francisco. For a town of about 50,000 people they have three churches that are more beautiful than any I've seen in Florida. The convent Chapel would easily sit 1,000 sisters.
Today's walk was about 16 miles, the highlight was a detour that saved us 8 km of road walking in exchange for 9 kilometers of dirt paths along a small river with waterfalls. Surprisingly most people took the highway to save the one kilometer. We relied on a German using the "Dutch Guidebook" (movie reference for fans of The Way). He told us to ignore the signs and make a sharp left at an old electrical transformer. He was right -- about 200 meters past the box we saw yellow arrows through the woods. Apparently the town people paint of the turn to have you walk along the road past their cafes.
For about 2 hours today we walked with Atila, one of our Camino friends from day 2. He teaches at a Catholic University in Hungary and his son is at the Franciscan Monastery in Hebron Spain. The monastery is a 10km detour off the Camino. We might not see Atila again before Santiago. (edit: We did see him 6/3 in Cathedral Square on our last day)
In the woods there was a rack were you could hang a shell. We added one with a shoutout to family and the Knights of Columbus.
As I mentioned on previous posts, there's an ebb and flow during the day where you see people from previous days. Today we saw the two sisters from Holland. We didn't walk much with them, but we did sit with them in a cafe early in the day for coffee and in a cafe later in the day for juice. (edit: We saw them 6/2 in Santiago waiting in line for Pilgrim mass)
A lot of people join the Camino in the last day to walk the minimum 100 km to Santiago to get the Compostela. They're big tour groups --- the kind that stick together and not as social with other people as our earlier friends. Just like 2 years ago when we walk the Camino, we are also joined at this point by groups of Italian cyclists. I think we should make them buy a bell for their bikes as they fly by with hardly a notice to the walkers.
Just a few more days to Santiago. Tomorrow night we stop in a town known for it's hot springs. I'm hoping that we can take a dip.
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| sometimes it is good not to be too tall |
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| note the arrows north to Santiago and south to Fatima |
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| Galician piper |
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| the Virgin Pilgrim |
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| Virgin Pilgrim |
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| Convent 'Chapel' |
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| massive bridge at Pontevedra |
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| we left a shell to mark our passage |
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| morning dew on flowers |
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| low-tide along the river |
