Arzua to A Brea

We walked 15kms this morning.  

We started the day lying in bed, listening to the rain, knowing it was going to be a rather damp day and we weren’t wrong. Where we were completely wrong on the other hand was in the direction we took after leaving our hotel! We made the rookie mistake of following a group of pilgrims, they clearly had no idea where they were going and there we were, blindly and confidently striding along behind them. (Note to self: Follow the arrows… not the people!) Fortunately a kind local set us right and we were soon back on the trail!

The trail was quite busy today, but in a nice buzzy way. I know some people are offended by the “crowds” on the Sarria-to-Santiago section, but I like that it's quite busy, it sort of makes you feel like you are part of something bigger. On our last Camino walk we sometimes never saw another person for hours, days even, and while there are pros and cons to that, it sometimes didn’t feel like we were “doing a Camino” more like we were “walking in Spain”; whereas this time there is no doubt you are doing a Camino!
(I do question whether some of the other people we have seen are “doing a Camino” though - we have seen a bus-load of tourists multiple times, they get dropped off a few hundred metres before a cafe or taverna, walk to the cafe (wearing ALL the Camino gear) get their passports stamped, have a drink and then pile back in the bus and off they go. Why do that?!)  

We walked through some lovely woodland and rural areas this morning and there was some interesting terrain, quite rocky in places and muddy in others. 

We also encountered the "toilet of our Camino" - we had a wee-break at a small little cafe and the toilet was unexpectedly jaw-dropping....  Photos just don't do it justice.  

those little rocks...they sparkled!

Fortunately the rain did stop for a good long stretch and only started again while we were having lunch. Although the day was gloomy, it was a day for hydrangeas - we saw so many and the colours were beautiful, they definitely brightened up the dull day.

Heidi found her home on the Camino today, a Taverna called “Heidi’s place” where we stopped for our 10:30am beer shandy…. It’s becoming a thing… good grief! We are at risk of becoming “day-drinkers”. Best we finish this walk in a hurry!

On that note, we hit the 100km mark on our walk today! We’ve got roughly 25kms to go. Quite how we have achieved this on a walk that is officially 116km long I am still trying to figure out?! But there you have it, we are all over-achievers!

It really is a small world - we met a South African couple on today’s walk, got chatting and it turns out they farm in the Free State, in Tweespruit, where Grant’s family has farmed for close to 100 years! What are the chances?!

We are now happily ensconced in our casa rural, it’s a very “home away from home” situation - we’ve been given the run of the house, with a fully stocked fridge on an “honesty system”. The owner is cooking supper for us and the other guests tonight. Best of all, Grant and I are in a room with a massive corner bath where we lay and soaked our tired muscles for close to an hour… utter bliss I tell ya!

Feet are holding up remarkably well and Heidi’s cold seems to be slowly getting better, thank goodness

We are staying at a small casa rural - Mar de Frisia.  Highly recommended.  The owner encourages you to make the house your own.  She cooked for us the night we were there and we enjoyed a communal meal with the 2 couples that were also staying there.

Melide to Arzua

What a wet day we had! 15kms of pretty steady rain.

We had breakfast at the albergue, hoping that by the time we were done the drizzle would have eased off, but no such luck! We walked in a steady drizzle most of the way today.

Lavadero 

The walk itself was really pleasant, lots of pretty scenery, a couple of bridges, one interesting river crossing and some nice cafes. Also some hills!

We met an absolutely adorable dog on the way that made me want to trade my ugly mutt in for a better model! (Sorry Moll!)

We had the lunch of the Camino today. Honestly, we’re still laughing about it… . So the walk was wet and muddy. We got to Arzua looking bedraggled in the extreme.  Also, we had to wear waterproof rain-gear and we sweated up those hills so we had a certain odour about us! We got in quite late, and we were HUNGRY for our lunch so decided to eat first and shower later. We set off to find a place to have our meal and found what looked like a nice little taverna. We asked for a table, the lady said she’d get a table ready and disappeared down the passage, we waited and waited, tummies grumbling, damp clothes steaming, and were finally led into a very elegant dining room full of extremely polished, posh-looking people - I die! The looks on their faces! We seemed to make one faux pas after another…. Asking for sangria… (no)…. Shandy? (No!) … falling on the bread like ravenous vultures while the other diners gazed in horrified fascination...  Paula cutting her chorizo only to have it fly off her plate onto the floor, where she had to scramble around on her knees to retrieve it!  Oh well, we gave the fancy-wancy locals a very entertaining afternoon and we found it all pretty hilarious ourselves! Fun times!! The food was pretty good too!

Feet are still doing great and Heidi proved yet again that Germans are STRONG! My friend is properly sick and yet she put her head down and walked and walked and walked some more. If there is any justice in the world she’ll wake up feeling good as new tomorrow.

We are staying at Casa do Cabo tonight.  I am very impressed with this accommodation, ideally located, comfortable and with a lovely breakfast included.  Highly recommended.