27th May 2024 Barbadelo to Portomarin

We headed down to the main area from our room for breakfast and noticed the steady stream of pilgrims already – and realised that it could be quite a busy day but first – breakfast!

After breakfast we headed out and Steve started his daily video when I noticed the most beautiful Pyrenees Mountain dog lying in the sun so I headed over and let him smell my hand before patting him.  He loved the massage behind his ears and down his back and only jumped away when a noisy Spanish girl ran over and twisted his head so she could get a selfie!  The rudeness of some of these people has been astounding.  We have seen it countless times when the Spanish come in and just push in front (and get served before us) while we just stand there not believing it. 

Anyway – when she left the dog came back and we continued our bonding session until Steve had finished his filming and posting. It was a bit of a reluctant goodbye as the dog was such a big bozo and his facial expression was laughable.  Such a great start to the day.

It was a bit of a day for animals today as we saw heaps of them – donkeys, horses, sheep and cows while walking through the rural area with the pretty much ever present smell of cow dung!  So strong sometimes the only way to get away from it was to pull your buff up over your nose!

We were excited to reach the “100 km to Santiago” sign as this was a real milestone given some of the obstacles we faced on this journey.  It is quite hard to believe we are so close now and our journey would have finished.

This area of Spain is know for its horreos where corn is stored without the risk of mice or other vermin getting to it.  We have been looking to see if any had corn remaining and have been out of luck until we found one that had about a 20cm layer of corn in the bottom and felt very privileged to see it.  They are an amazing part of the area and are often decorated beautifully even with crosses on the top – maybe seeking divine intervention to keep the crop safe.

The weather was getting warm and we found a great place to stop for lunch.  As is usual, we try to break the back of the kilometres in the morning giving us time to have a relaxing lunch before setting off again to our destination.  This place was incredible and our lunch was just delicious – Steve had his usual jamon bocadillo and I ended up with a chicken fillet, pesto and rocket bocadillo where the rolls were warm and crunchy which really added to the experience.  After the hard slog Steve enjoyed his cerveza grande and I certainly enjoyed a delicious Sangria.

Off we headed again, past fields of freshly sown crops and even saw a farmer scattering seed into his paddock the way it has been done for thousands of years – no machinery – just a sack of seed. 

Closer to Portomarin the track became very steep and rocky and we ended up on the road approaching the bridge over the river.  Portomarin is quite a new town created when the river was dammed – even the original church and other significant buildings were dismantled then reassembled in their new positions up the hill.

We were quite tired as the weather had been heating up so we headed off across the bridge to the roundabout and up the stairs, then up the slope towards the bar where we had to check in.  One of the lovely guys then took us up around a corner and along about 100m to the building where our room was and, of course, we headed up another 2 flights of stairs.  I don’t know why but there always seems to be stairs at the end of the day!

The room was basic but had everything we needed so it was time for our afternoon routine to start – showers, washing of the day’s clothes and finding somewhere to put up our travelling clothesline.  Steve headed out to grab some dinner and find a pharmacy to get some more electrolitos for the days ahead.

One last thing to do for the day was to record a Happy Birthday song for Joanne who turns 55 tomorrow!  Done and sent – she will get that when she wakes up!

Another day well done and one step closer to Santiago de Compostela.