Caldas de Reis – Padron

20 April 2018

19.1km

A heavy heart:

When we woke up this morning, it was with a heavy heart. It was hard to even fathom how far we had come since 27^th March. And to think that this journey would be over by tomorrow was almost unimaginable.

Usually the two of us will talk about a whole bunch of different things while walking the Camino. Things like the beauty on the route, the friendly people, our feet, yesterday’s stage, the end of today’s stage, how hungry we are, and so on.

But today we barely talked to each other and didn’t take many pictures either. There was definitely a sense of melancholy between us.

Leaving Caldas de Reis:

At least Brierley’s guidebook promised that today we would be walking on natural paths through woodlands with minimal walking on the main road – that’s always good news!

And so, with this feeling of sadness, we left Caldas de Reis.

Leaving Caldas de Reis on our 2^nd last day on the Portuguese Camino

The woodlands:

It wasn’t long before we reached the promised woodlands. We only saw a few pilgrims, but otherwise it was quiet on the road.

As we walked through this woodland, we could hear so many different nature sounds – birds chirping, water flowing and our own footsteps. Maybe it’s good to just be quiet and breathe sometimes.

A favourite part of our walk – through the beautiful woodlands

Café Esperon (and the school group):

At Café Esperon in Carracedo we stopped for our first morning coffee and a delicious slice of lemon cake. Suddenly the school group from yesterday also rushed in. It now appears that they are also on their way to Santiago.

Isn’t it amazing how a group of kids can create absolute chaos for 10 minutes and when they leave, everything changes back to quiet and order as if they were never there. For the past 3 weeks we have been so used to silence and being alone – so it is perhaps understandable that we suddenly felt out of our comfort zone! But this is probably just the Camino’s way of getting us back into the hustle and bustle of everyday life!

Woodlands!

We continued walking on a gravel path parallel to the highway which we finally left, after about 3km, to get back into the woodland.

The green fields are still a wonderful sight

We walked slowly past the school group – they were now walking in smaller groups and it took us almost half an hour to leave them behind again.

Sheep on a leash:

As we were walking on a small farm road, a woman passed us with 5 sheep on a leash. I have never seen that sheep can walk so obediently in a group.

Sheep on a leash. Maybe they are also on an excursion for the day

Scenic walk:

After Valga, at the highest point of the stage, we walked down a steep path through more woodlands to the Valga River. It was a beautiful and peaceful route – just what we needed on today’s stage.

Berto on a steep descend to the Valga River

The ever present yellow arrow in the woodlands

There were plenty of small water streams in the woods

Coffee break (meeting with our French pilgrim friends again AND the school group):

With about 6km left to Padron, we noticed one of the many cafés on our route. We saw our French pilgrim friends who beckoned us to join them. They ordered us coffee and while we used a lot of hand signals and a few words in French/English, we had a nice chat.

Just after we finished drinking coffee, the school group arrived again and we quickly picked up our backpacks to walk the last few kilometers to Padron.

School group. They weren’t so loud now – must be all that walking

Hard working farmers:

During our Portuguese Camino we saw many times how the local people work on their farms. It was interesting to see that although they didn’t always have the most modern equipment, they did the job perfectly.

A farmer working on his land

Close to Padron:

The last stretch of today’s stage was on quiet country roads. I told Berto it must be my imagination, but it feels like I can smell Santiago (ok, it WAS my imagination), but that’s how close Santiago was now!

A few kilometres of country lanes before Padron

When a normal STOP sign turns into a motivational Camino sign

Brierly guide book & Padron:

According to our Brierley guidebook, Padron is a town steeped in history. The cover photo of his guidebook was taken here at Padron. The cross (Via Crucis to Monte Santiaguino) testifies to the beginning of St James ministry on the Iberian Peninsula which started the whole Camino de Santiago story.

The town of Padron – 20km south of Santiago

Accommodation – Padron:

Albergue Pension Flavia

We checked into Albergue Pension Flavia – not really an albergue as we once again had our own room.

Albergue Pension Flavia in Padron

Last afternoon on the Camino:

We were still in a quiet mood and after drinking a beer at the bar next to our albergue, we went to our room to rest for a while. It was almost as if we were in no rush to reach Santiago!

Later in the afternoon we walked through the town and also ate something light. We only saw a few pilgrims wandering around as well. Tomorrow, we will all come together in the same place, at the beautiful Santiago Cathedral.

These trees in Padron are more like decorations

Tuitrans will “carry” your backpack for you:

Back at the albergue, I noticed a small envelope which is available at every albergue. This envelope can be used to put money in (usually €5), should you want a company to courier your backpack to the next town while you walk.

Last year I used Jacotrans for a few days on the Camino Frances to transport my backpack while my knee needed time to recover. And here on the Portuguese Camino the transport company is known as Tuitrans (probably from Tui to Santiago). This is a great option if you need to lighten your load while walking (what a shame I’m only now noticing them).

Tuitrans is the company that will transport your backpack if you can’t

A last beer:

We ended our day in the adjacent bar of our albergue where we enjoyed some snacks and a beer. Before we went to sleep, we watched the beautiful sunset. Tomorrow night, if all goes well, we will sleep in Santiago.

A beer and sunset in Padron

Click here for Day 26 (our final day) …