Life's a Stitch

 

24.1+3.25 for morning hiccups

27.35k (no wonder my feet hurt)

 

Such a nice evening last night at Hotel Restaurante Luz Da Luna, located on a strip of beach hotels and camp grounds that bustle in season. For now it was totally quiet. We may have been the only ones in the hotel and eating dinner. Again a dated, but clean room, this one with a little balcony overlooking the side garden and a bit of the beach.

 

Our stay gives me the opportunity to say what I’ve mentioned on our past Caminos: kudos to the family businesses that work so hard and go out of their way to help pilgrims. This hotel/restaurant was run by a couple our age, their son, daughter and son-in-law. Even the granddaughter, maybe 11, had her part in bringing our appetizer to the table. For 70e we had our room, our laundry washed, dried and folded (gratis), dinner with free appies, a bottle of wine, two after dinner drinks, a Diet Coke, a nice conversation in patient Spanish, and as a bonus, the mom brought us cake to share for dessert.

 

The morning presented us with two glitches:

1. The first set of arrows we followed lead us to the pilgrim alburgue, located off the Camino.
2. About 2.5 kilometres later, back on track, we receive a text from Correos, the Spanish post office, notifying us that our suitcase that was sent from Madrid for us to retrieve in Santiago, couldn’t be delivered and was being sent back to Madrid. Three blessings of modern technology saved the day: the text, the gps that showed a Correos 700mts away and Google translate. The clerk traced the suitcase and made a phone call, and hearing him say “vale” (OK) a number of times we knew all would be well.

We started the day walking along the beach at 8:30am sunrise, over the bridge into Vilanova de Arousa.

At this point on the Variante Spiritual, most pilgrims take a boat up the river to skip a day or two of walking. It is supposedly the river where the boat carrying the body of St. James. There are 17 crosses installed along the marine route. The problem is, the boat ride is not calculated in the required miles to earn your Compestela. We had the time, so we walked. 

 

Others discouraged us, saying it was along a busy road. It really wasn’t, as it wove through parks, beach areas and villages to avoid the road.

The guide books sometimes indicate unpleasant roadside walking, but they fail to mention what’s on the other side of the street, in this case a beautiful beach. And the road wasn’t busy.

 

 

The issue for us today was it was a combination of a long and mostly paved walk. And it was hot. It was one of those days where, no matter how beautiful or interesting, the end felt like a slog. We stopped at a bar 500mts from our destination to cool off. 

 

When I first spotted our destination, Os Miguelinos in Catoira, i couldn’t decide if it was a mirage or an oasis. A magnificent 200 year old house, It’s hard to believe this was in our budget. 

Along the way, each time I saw a gardenia in bloom, I stopped to smell it. It was my mother’s favourite flower and I thought of her. Just today I commented it had been awhile since I saw one, maybe the climate is changing the farther north we go. When we entered our room, there were two freshly picked gardenias on the bed.

It was an oasis. You could even pick kiwis from the bathroom window if you wanted.

 

We waited until Spanish dinner time, 9:00, and walked to what translates to the Kangeroo Bar/Restaurant. It appears, though, you can order any meat you want as long as it’s pork. We had lasagna. And a long, slow conversation with the owner. Again, we were the only ones in the dining room. The bar was hopping, though, mostly older men watching soccer. 

 

Tomorrow, the two Portuguese routes meet up again and we’ll stay on the other side of Padrón, our last night before arriving in Santiago for the finish of this route. We have to decide what happens next.