Woke up this morning in the lovely Casa Leonardo to the sound of rain taping on my window. Seriously? Again? And today is a 30km day! (Insert f-bomb here) Thankfully it was just a steady light rain, not a Monsoon rain with wind gusts like we experienced in the last 2 days.
I was the first guest down for breakfast at 7:30am. The hostess had breakfast all set up around the beautiful marble island.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, there are 3 Irish couples and a lovely gentleman from Denmark also staying here. And when we arrived yesterday, we looked like drowned rats. Everyone’s gear and boots were soaked. The ladies of the Casa took our gear to the laundry room to dry off, and this morning I noticed that the boots were lined up in front of the wood burning oven under the kitchen island. The door was slightly ajar and I was surprised to discover boots drying inside.
After a hearty breakfast of ”oeufs de pélerin”, pilgrim eggs, which consisted of poached eggs on a bed of fluffy mashed potatoes with caramalized onions served in a mason jar. I also gorged myself on a platter of fruit, croissants and blueberry muffins, and washed the whole lot down with a bucket of delicious café con leche. Me and my Pac-man appetite left to meet Peter, Charlotte, Annie and Kathryn a few blocks over at 8:15am.
It was a very long day, hopping over rivers of water running down the center of the paths, trudging through mud and being stampeded by a busload of ”day pilgrims”. Herds of them! Sometimes 4 or 5 abreast taking up the whole width of the path, marching towards you like they were training for the Olympic speed walking tryouts. A couple of times we had to stop walking and step off the path to let them pass.
It rained on and off all day, so once again, we did the rain gear hokie pokie…you put the rain gear on, your take the rain gear off, you put the rain gear on and you turn yourself around…
The path took us into woodlands today and in a few lovely eucalyptus groves (they are so fragrant!), and it ran parallel to the busy highway as well for a while. We travelled through lovely little villages and through the town of Melide, population 8000, were we stopped for lunch and met up with Tim and Agneska. We sat in a piazza with tables and chairs across from a café/bar and the sun finally came out.
After a lovely break, we hit the road again for our final push. Annie and Kathryn were staying in Castaneda, about 6km before Arzua, where Peter, Charlotte and I were staying, well Peter and Charlotte were, I was staying off the reservation again.
As I had said before, the last few kilometers of a day are always the hardest, but these last 6km were beyond brutal, mostly uphill. Climbing hills at the end of a long day is just killer.
Peter and Charlotte are staying at a hotel in town, and I was directed to walk another 2km or so down some lonely country road to my accommodation at the Pazo Santa Maria. The clouds in that direction were ominously dark, so I decided to call a taxi from Peter and Charlotte’s hotel. I frankly had no energy left to walk one more step anyways.
The taxi ride was perhaps 10 minutes, but I’m glad I decided not to walk, the Pazo Santa Maria is in a remote area in the countryside outside Arzua. However it is absolutely beautiful. The rooms are in small buildings surrounding the main building where the lounge is, as well as the only available wifi, and the restaurant is in another building.
The Pazo is designed like a 18th century Galician stonehouse. It is quite a popular venue for wedding receptions, with beautiful landscaping with gardens and fountains outback.
So after a long day, I made my way to the restaurant for dinner, fully expecting to be the only pilgrim staying here so far off the Camino. But no! Who was there but Tim and Agneska. I joined them for dinner, and we chatted with the Farrah, a young lady at the next table. She is originally from the Philippines but moved to Australia when she was a young girl. She started the Camino alone only a few days before.
We had a wonderful time, great food, good friends and wonderful vino tinto!
So ended day 35, with only 2 days left and a little over 40km before we reach Santiago. And, if the forecasters are correct, no more rain!
Today’s tally 32km, 48,426 steps in 6:58 walking time.
S-A-N-T-I-A-_-_
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