Camino Portugues Day 8

Camino Portugues Day 8

Redondela to Pontevedra

Starting km: 169.4

Finishing km: 188.4

Distance walked: 19.0

I was just getting ready to say something unflattering about the Spanish sections of the Camino Portugues, and then we went and had a really lovely day.  Almost all of the walk was through forest, and much of it on old Roman Road XIX. You could tell which bits were still original by the smooth but deep ruts in the huge thick paving stones.  And there were some lovely views out over the inlets and bays along the coast as we approached our destination.

Likewise, while Tui had been amazing, the other Spanish cities and towns had been a little underwhelming.  But then Pontevedra came to the rescue. This was partly due to it being a lovely town, with tons of pilgrimage history (e.g. the sanctuary of pilgrims, right in the city's heart).  

But it also had a fait bit to do with the fact that we walked a scant 19km today, arriving on the southern outskirts of Pontrvedra around 11:40, an hour and twenty minutes before the Albergue even opened for the day.  So we sat and drank coffees, then a wine and a beer, before checking in.

With all this done so early, and with our bodies still in such good shape, we had the time and motivation to walk into the city for a look around.  We even stopped for a cider at a sideria. As with the Spanish Cervecerias, which are places that serve beer not make beer, I was a bit disappointed to realize that it was “merely” a cider bar.  But it made up for this by having Galician sidra natural (bottle conditioned cider) served from 750ml bottles in this crazy contraption that pumped (not pressure forced) the cider out from just above the bottom of the bottle through a dip tube when you pressed a button, thus allowing you to share a bottle without stirring up the lees.

We, and many of the other walkers, also had time to enjoy the big Albergue lawn and the sunny afternoon. Many of them sat playing cards, talking, drinking beer or coffee, or just resting in the sun.

The Albergue itself was a good one too, as unlike all of the others we'd visited in Galicia, it had pots and pans and dishes in the kitchen, and it didn't ban alcohol.  So Sarah and I cooked a roasted garlic and red pepper stew and concluded it by enjoying it with a bottle of Galicia's finest out on the lawn with Luisa, a young German woman who we'd walked with earlier and who had rejoined us again this evening.

Today's wine:

Casal do Rio

A Galician white that tasted like an off-dry Pinot Gris or maybe a soft Riesling.  Nothing special, but nice and did a good job cutting through the stew that I accidentally massively oversalted.