Day 9: to Padrón

In many towns and cities I noticed these pavement stones which make the surface look like it's undulating, but it's an optical illusion created by the wavy lines.

I thought I should visit the hot springs from which Caldas de Reis (Hot Springs of Kings) gets its name. So I found a public one shown here. Not very inspiring but hey it's free.

The path ran roughly parallel with the rail line here. Smallholding farms and vineyards dotted the landscape.

Usually there would be other walkers within a hundred metres of me on this stretch.

At a rest stop halfway up a hill, a pool and flower bed. I overtook the Swedish pilgrims again, and said: You guys aren't walking fast enough to get rid of me. We are everywhere, said a guy in the group in a mock sinister tone. We all laughed again.

Only 33 km to go. Tomorrow would be the home stretch.

The landscape wasn't spectacular, just easy on the eyes, like this.

Nearing Padrón, we crossed the river Ulla at Pontecesures. There is a cluster of restaurants at the other end of this bridge that you can see in the far left, but I decided to wait until I reached the main town before taking lunch.

I felt that the town was a bit sleepy but that might have been the effect of the warm day. After walking around I found a restaurant more suited to my budget than some of the higher end ones for tourists. Besides I didn't want to eat octopus, which unfortunately is a Galician specialty.

The guest house was actually 4 km outside of town again due to shortage of accommodation in the town itself. It was a renovated old house just off the main road. Nobody was in attendance but there was a room key and written instructions on the side table. One of the instructions I discovered on second look was that we would be picked up by a car for dinner at a local gastronomic restaurant.

And these are the starter and main dish that I had: baked Coquilles St. Jacques (St. James, or Santiago) and veal fillet in breadcrumbs. It was good, but a bit plain compared with what the other patrons were having. I guess we were on a fixed price menu.

I got the impression the guest house was a side venture of the restaurant owner which is why the driver, an employee of the restaurant, was willing to drive us some 20 km on secondary roads.

There are few pictures from this day. I guess the scenery didn't make me ecstatic enough to pull out my phone. The road out of Padrón was a busy one with cars whizzing by.

Day 8: to Caldas de Reis

Time to get going again. After a decent breakfast in the basement of the hotel, I walked towards the old city, passing many of the places I had seen the previous night. I liked the lines of this building.

At a central square I bumped into the Swedish pilgrim group again. They were about a dozen and stood out because they were all wearing red shirts with logos of their sponsors. They worked for or were associated with a child heart disease foundation and were raising funds. This I knew because I had already bumped into them on the way a couple of times before. I said to them in mock irritation: You people again! We all laughed. I thought it was a great cause to do a Camino for.

Umbrella street again, this time in morning light.

Going forwards.

We emerged on the bank of the river Lérez and crossed it using the Burgo Bridge which dates back to medieval times. It has new paving and guard rails as you can see.

The view from the bridge.

The upstream view.

Downstream is another pedestrian and cyclist bridge of modern construction. You can see how calm the water is.

About an hour's walking found us on the path running alongside a main road with bucolic fields and farm animals.

About 1½ hours into the walk we were in a forest.

It was cooler and more pleasant than open fields. But there were a few steep climbs and sometimes I had to thread my feet between rocks.

A sign with wise words in Galician: O camino non se percorre, vivise. Piensa que puedes y estarás a medio camino. which translates to The road is not walked but lived. Think you can and you'll be halfway there.

This sign at the fork recommends a safer way to cross the highway.

At a vineyard, one of the family picking grapes cheerfully gave pilgrims a handful each. I found another intact bunch on the ground and saved it for later. They were wine grapes, not table grapes, so were a bit tart but still flavourful. The flesh was jelly-like.

At a rest stop, this cat came and flopped down at my feet. An Irish woman pilgrim complimented me by saying that I must be exuding good vibes and the cat was enjoying that downpour. And the stroking.

This is the last photo I took this day, of a pond that took my fancy. I guess I felt that the inland scenes weren't as picturesque as the coast.

I had a somewhat late lunch at a restaurant in Caldas de Reis, then trudged over to the hotel. The room was quite good, with air-conditioning.

The laundry machines became free just before dinner. In the dining room I greeted the Swedish pilgrims who were also staying in the same hotel. I had my own table though, and finished dinner quickly so that I could load up the dryer.

Day 7: to Pontevedra

Again, that is, this time on foot. The same taxi with the friendly woman driver picked me up at the hotel, where I had been booked in for 2 days, and drove me south to Arcade to resume where I had left off the previous afternoon.

I had to walk only 12 km this day so I was very relaxed. I even stopped to have a coffee and a pastry on the way out of town. I met this furry friend on the path.

A rest pool, unfortunately out of use and covered in algae.

Soon I reached the Verdugo River and its road crossing.

But the foot crossing over the Ponte Medieval de Pontesampaio was far more picturesque.

A better view.

The plaque. This area is where the Spanish fought and won the Battle of Sampaio against the French in 1809, driving them out of Galicia.

You can see that we had to share it with the occasional vehicle.

The view upstream.

Swallow your envy, boring bridge users!

Midway to Pontevedra, the route used a recently constructed road.

Follow the one, er two, true paths. 😸

I'm glad I opted for the the path that went through the woods because we walked past cool streams like this.

About lunch time I emerged near Pontevedra's railway station which was quite close to my hotel. I spent most of the afternoon enjoying a siesta.

In the evening I walked to the old city of Pontevedra.

It's an attractive city and I had been here before, in 2009. It was here that I became aware of the Portuguese Camino. The main Camino Frances is the most well known, but the beginning of that is scary. If you start from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, you have to climb to 1000 m to reach Roncesvalles. It also takes about 40 days. For a beginner like me, 10 days is much more achievable.

The light at this time of day is kind to old buildings.

The contrast between the purple sky and the yellow lamplight is lovely. It's my favourite time of day, particularly if it's cooling down from a warm day.

Another umbrella street.

Diners enjoying the evening air and meal.

A colourfully lit fountain.

I was a bit sorry to leave Pontevedra. I had become a bit cozy in my hotel room with a two-night stay. But my walk was two-thirds through and the goal beckoned.

Day 6: to Arcade

The breakfast room was rather crowded. Space was at a premium in this hotel.

Just as it took walking to reach the hotel from the outskirts of Vigo, leaving Vigo behind also took walking. I was uncertain where the Camino start point is in Vigo, but following the principle that it would be a well-known church, I worked out that it would be the Iglesia Santiago de Vigo. And other web pages confirmed it. This was just a stone's throw from the hotel. I then walked along the waterfront for a couple of km until I spotted a bunch of Swedish pilgrims waiting at a corner. Yes, they said, this is the way, and I saw my first yellow arrow for the day on a wall.

It was yet another half hour of walking along a long urban street with shops, and even a local market before we were in the outskirts. The road then took a steep climb up a hill. Many pilgrims groaned looking at the slope which felt like 1 in 2, but probably was more like 1 in 3. But once we had reached the upper path, it was flat and afforded us grand views of the estuary.

And this continued for many kilometres. It was a smooth forest path also used by cyclists. It was one of the most enjoyable morning walks I have done.

It was a brilliant Sunday morning but I had not kept track of the day of the week. That explained the people out enjoying themselves on Saturday evening.

On this stretch I met an elderly Canadian couple from Toronto. They had done other walks too. It turned out that the husband and I shared the same first name. Such a coincidence.

It was a bit harder for them to adapt to the jet lag because they had come from the west.

Vigo is the starting point for many pilgrims on the Portuguese Camino because of the 100 km rule which is the minimum distance one must walk to obtain the certificate, also called a compostela. Cyclists have to do a minimum of 200 km.

A delightful waterfall that is mentioned in the guide, but wasn't given a name.

An artist noticed the rock resembled a fish head and applied paint suitably.

This would be the Ponte de Rande. I recalled that I had seen this bridge before, from the train, the last time I was in Galicia. The picture I took then would have been from the railway line running on the south bank of the straits.

It seems it's been widened in 2015 since my last visit.

A rather distorted panorama.

From another vantage point, a couple of fluvial islands.

Photo-ops were also opportunities to take a short break for water and snacks.

On the outskirts of Redondela, I wondered if I, a blogger, should order the Blognese Spaghetti. But I didn't stop here, the main town was only a bit further on.

Redondela is where the coastal and inland Caminos join up so from here on, there would be pilgrims from the other branch of the Portuguese Camino. And the path would be more crowded.

The Pazo Vilavella greeted us as we entered Redondela. It is a former convent and now a banquet hall.

One of the viaducts that make this town famous.

Viewed from below.

Pilgrims queueing to get their credencial stamped to validate their walk. I got mine from a local restaurant. All kinds of places, religious and secular, offer the stamp.

And this is the what I had for lunch at the restaurant, a standard milanesa, fried egg, chips and salad.

On the way out of Redondela I spotted this hórreo which is a Galician granary. It's supported by straddle-stones which rodents are unable to climb over.

This wall had many pilgrim scallop shells and mementos tied on it.

And that was my last photo of the day before reaching Arcade (pronounced ar-ca-de) so the walk must have been unmemorable. However I did not overnight in Arcade. Similar to Vila Praia de Ancora, there was no accommodation available in that town. So the agency had arranged for a taxi to take me the 12 km to Pontevedra, and bring me back the next morning to resume the walk. A bit unusual. I jokingly explained to the Swedish pilgrims having refreshment at an Arcade bar that "I'm not cheating! I'm coming back!"

I had passed the midway point of my walk today.