Arcade to Caldas de Rais

Today has been a super long day of walking. It has been our longest leg of about 37 kilometres. Arriving at our hotel (which took an extra half hour to find in this largish town of Caldas de Rais) was a wonderful feeling. We were somewhat drowned rats by the time we arrived after 3.30pm but again we were lucky because it rained only very lightly except for the last hour. It was not cold but rather warm and humid if walking briskly so my new 5 euro poncho was ideal for spitting rain.

After walking out of Arcade we encountered about 10 kilometres of lovely walking track next to a river, soft under foot if a bit slippery and lots of small waterfalls, trees and flowers. We even saw ducks along the way.

We walked through the  large town of Pontevedra at about the 13 kilometre mark. This took some time, lots of traffic lights and attention needing to be paid to the way markers but we didn’t get lost which is rather amazing. We have talked to many pilgrims today who did get lost. Pontevedra has many historic buildings and of course, like some other towns in Galicia, a Roman bridge. The Capela Peregrina is a popular church for pilgrims with unusual architecture.

Our walk then took us for a further twenty kilometres and more through mainly rural areas next to small rivers. Because it had rained heavily overnight parts of the track were like walking in shallow quicksand. Thankfully most of the route was flat and there were many cafes along the way for a break.

Right now G and I are watching Nadal play Fognini in the Madrid Open and trying not to fall asleep before dinner.