Redondela – Pontevedra

18 April 2018

20.2km

Three days to go …

While we were getting ready this morning and I was slowly putting my blistered feet into my hiking sandals, Berto reminded me: “Only 3 more days”. For my feet this was good news! But in my heart I wanted this Camino to continue for many more days.

It took us a while to get out of Redondela and its suburbs. It was a Wednesday morning and the roads were quite busy with locals on their way to work. So we had to keep a close eye on the traffic, as well as the yellow Camino arrows, as we walked out of town.

Leaving Redondela behind

About 3km later, a forest path appeared leading to the eucalyptus woods.

Walking into the eucalyptus woods

There were some challenging hills we had to face before reaching the highest point of this stage, Alto de Lomba. From here we had a lovely view of the Vigo River.

A view of the Vigo River from Alto de Lomba

Be aware of road walking:

Before we reached Arcade, we had to walk a stretch of about 700m along the dangerous main road. There was no barrier and it was on a bend. Sometimes a pilgrim needs nerves of steel!

Luckily we arrived safely in Arcade and rewarded ourselves with coffee and a sandwich.

There is enough bread on this plate not to leave us hungry again soon

While walking through Arcade, we saw an elderly group of people in front of us. They had just left a hotel, were beautifully dressed and strolled through the streets. They greeted us very kindly and clapped their hands when we walked past them.

They may not have been pilgrims, but they walked and enjoyed the fresh air – essentially the same as we did

Pontesampaio:

Just before leaving Arcade behind, we crossed the old stone bridge (Pontesampaio) over the Verdugo River, built in 1795 over earlier foundations.

The old stone bridge in Arcade, Pontesampaio

Berto crossing the bridge Pontesampaio

John Brierley: “It was here that a local militia inflicted a significant rout on Napoleon’s troops during the War of Independence”

Just after the bridge, the trail suddenly forks steeply up past the bridge memorial. By now I can only shake my head and smile at these sudden steep hills on the Camino.

A very steep hill in Arcade

After this we walked on quiet country roads until we reached the woodlands again.

Narrow country lanes leading to the woodlands

Walking on an old pilgrim path:

And then we reached the stretch I had been looking forward to since this morning – a walk on the ancient stone paved pilgrim’s way (Brea Vella da Canicouva).

The ancient stone paved pilgrim way

We felt privileged to walk on this ancient road

I was (almost) glad that this path was uphill because it meant we could walk it leisurely … it was such a beautiful stretch of road.

More pilgrims on the road:

Today, we saw pilgrims on our route for the first time. There was a Korean couple, whom we had not seen before, and we greeted them kindly with “Buen Camino”. They carried an awful lot of equipment. It turned out they were camping rather than finding accommodation in hostels – it must be a challenging journey!

A Korean couple with hiking and camping equipment on their backs

We need energy:

After all these climbs we needed something to give us renewed energy. All we had in our backpacks was a pack of jelly babies. Well, it must have worked, because we happily walked to Pontevedra!

A handful of jelly babies for the last stretch to Pontevedra

Take the option route just before Pontevedra:

We chose the option route where the trail continues along the river. Brierley’s guidebook promised that this optional route would replace the noise and danger of traffic and that one would instead enjoy beautiful woodland and birdsong.

It was indeed true! It was such a beautiful hiking trail that we only took one photo because we enjoyed the tranquility so much.

On our way to the scenic riverside walk

Accommodation – Pontevedra:

The last available bed:

Although most albergues are about 1.5km outside of Pontevedra, we decided to walk to the center of the medieval city in the hope of finding accommodation there. We decided to stop by Pension Casa Maruja and were lucky to get the last bed on the top floor!

Pension Casa Maruja in the centre of the medieval city

The very last available room in Casa Maruja (we were lucky and happy to have our own bathroom and bath towels)

A nice treat:

The lady at reception gave us a laundry bag and said we could take a nice shower and then bring all our dirty laundry in the bag to the reception desk where they would make sure that we would receive everything clean by early tomorrow morning. Oh, how nice to be spoiled like that!

She also told us about a great street restaurant that offered the biggest beers in town – of course we couldn’t resist.

Cerveza time on the Camino

Pilgrim Chapel:

Pontevedra is the regional capital with a growing population of 80,000. We strolled through the delightful medieval centre to explore the city and walked up to the Santuario da Peregrina (Pilgrim’s Chapel). The beautiful 18^th century pilgrimage chapel was built in the Baroque style.

The Pilgrim Chapel in Pontevedra, built in 1778 and a gem of the Camino

A couple (and their dog) from the UK:

After exploring Pontevedra, we walked up to a bar near our Pension where we enjoyed a drink. A couple with a dog arrived soon after and were also looking for a place outside where they could sit with their dog. We invited them to join us.

For more than two hours we had a wonderful time sitting and talking with them. They are originally from the UK and bought a small farm in Spain a few years ago. We enjoyed listening to all their stories and how they experienced living in Spain.

And this is what makes the Camino, well I suppose also travel, so wonderful – the great people you meet unexpectedly. We can learn so much from other people and should therefore always be open to opportunities like this!

Wine glasses:

On the way back to our Pension we bought a few snacks and a bottle red wine. We were also looking for cheap glasses for our wine, but couldn’t find them anywhere. The only other option was to buy 2 plastic containers filled with jelly. Back at Casa Maruja we enjoyed our snacks (and jelly) and voila!, then we had (very small) glasses for our red wine.

First we had the jelly and then glasses for our wine

It was another great day on the Camino. Now, it’s only 66km to Santiago de Compostela!

Click here for Day 24 …