Day 34 - Palas de Rei to Castaneda - 23 km
Today was my best day for quite a while. I am feeling well again, the weather was beautiful, and our trails were more down than up.
The path was mostly in forests on dirt trail. My favourite. And today the forests had a different tree, eucalyptus! They have been planted here and have done very well.
We also went by a good amount of farm land, today again the farmers were baling hay. Nice growth for mid-May.
At one point we were on a true multi purpose road. Pilgrims, tractors, cars, and a small herd of Holsteins.
We had a cafe and snack break at a place called Casanova today, then we walked through a larger town called Melide. They are known for their octopus. One place was offering tastes, which I had. Just sliced off a piece of tentacle for me. Quite tasty. But we weren’t quite ready to stop yet. We figured we would hit a few more restaurants on the far side of town. But there weren’t any. So at the next town, Santo Maria, we found a bar. No food service at this hour, we just had coke.
Once we drank our caffeine and sugar, we kept walking. We got in to our accommodation about 1:30. This one is a “Casa Rural” and is an old farm house renovated for rooms for pilgrims. We have a private room but share a bath. No problem. It’s lovely. Possibly the cutest place we have stayed at.
After showers, laundry by hand drying on the line, and a short rest - we headed over to the local albergue which has a restaurant/bar. Too late for lunch, we had cerveza limon and fries. Very good.
Then back to our room for a better rest. I looked up where we are staying in Santiago. When I put it into google maps it said I could be there in 46 minutes. Hah. Two days!
We went back to the albergue for supper as well (the only restaurant nearby). Had one of our best pilgrim meals with pork ribs, so tasty! It was a huge portion, then they asked if we wanted more! No thank you. After dessert they served us some yellow liqueur that I think is a specialty here. Yummy, and warms your inside! I should sleep tonight. Zzz....
Today’s lesson: in 2 days we will be in Santiago. We are ready to be finished, and at the same time, walking is now our way of life. What can we expect afterwards? (More of a question than a lesson I guess).
Cafe con leche, snack 3€
Coke 1,50€
Casa rural 17.50€
Cerveza, fries 4€
Supper 9€
