Day 26. Ribadiso to O Emplame and back. 25 miles

Day 26. Ribadiso to O Empalme. And back. 25 miles.

Another short day's cycling in order to get a bit beyond Arzua while Brendan was walking from Palas to Ribadiso. Also, our friend Mike was in Santiago this weekend, and it gave me time to meet up with him in Arzua.

Mike arrived by bus at 11.45. We had a beer in a cafe in the main square. There are plane trees everywhere, and the square is a great place to sit and chat.

All the locals seem to be doing the same. Something was going on in the church. Mike said it was the Feast of Corpus Christi today.


The bells rang wildly. Then the priest emerged followed by a flock of young children aged about 8 or 9. They were dressed for their first communion.More bells. Then photos, each individually with the priest, then a group shot. The town band was in evidence and they later joined in a procession along the Main Street.

Lunch was at a restaurant called Venus. I had a tripe and chickpea soup followed by grilled hake and chips. Mike had a plate of charcuterie followed by chicken. All for €11 each including an excellent bottle of local white wine.

Great to catch up with Mike who is going on from Santiago to Madrid then Toledo then Avila.

His bus back to town was at 3.45 and I headed back to camp where B had already arrived, a bit footsore, but otherwise OK.

Warm sunny afternoon, so everything has dried out after yesterday's rain. We're planning to eat at the Albergue across the road this evening.

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Day 25. Palas de Rei to Ribadiso. 35 miles

Day 25. Palas de Rei to Ribadiso. In both directions. 35 miles.

Before I start on today (Saturday 21st), I need to give an update on yesterday evening. While having a pint and seeing to our emails and the blog, we got chatting to a couple from Clonakilty in County Cork. They were cycling from Burgos to Santiago, and like many of the pilgrims we are meeting, using the services of a luggage transfer service i.e. you don't have to carry all your stuff with you on your back or on the bike: it's transported for you between overnight stops.

They were at the next table to us during the evening meal, so the conversation continued. the meal itself was excellent. No menu, you had to take what was served. Started with homemade soup (chicken stock, white beans, potatoes and turnip tops), followed by a huge platter of casseroled pork ribs, with chips and an enormous salad. A litre of chilled (!) red wine came with the meal. And for dessert there was a choice. I had pineapple cake and Brendan had local cheese with quince jelly. Neither of us took coffee but enjoyed the free glass of grappa. All the veg, the wine and the grappa were from the campsite's garden and vineyard. Probably the quinces too. So this is a restaurant to recommend. Camping Santa Marina, Portomarin. I'll add a link later.
We slept well last night.

A slightly complicated day. Brendan set off on foot from Portomarin to walk to Palas de Rei. I struck camp (such a quaint expression!) then drove to Arzua where I'd found some information on the internet that there might be a campsite behind a hotel. The tourist office told me that it was possible to camp a few kilometres back at Ribadiso. This was hard to find, but there are two albergues in this hamlet. We are camped at one of them with use of the facilities for €5 per person per night.

I cycled from Ribadiso to Palas de Rei and back getting caught in a thunder storm on the way back. But some good came of it. I stopped in a wayside cafe for a cup of coffee, and got a stamp for my Pilgrim Record.

It was dry when I got back to Ribadiso, so I pitched the the tent, then set off to collect Brendan from near Palas de Rei. We stopped in Melide for some food shopping.

Pouring with rain again when we got back to the tent, so headed across the road for a pint and a piece of pie while waiting for the rain to stop.

No wifi where we got our pie and pint, so spent a while writing up my blog post. I'll add it to the blog next time I can get wifi access.
Next task is to unpack everything and check out what the facilities are. The turned out to be excellent, with comfy sitting areas, showers, clean toilets with toilet paper provided. There is wifi at Albergue Los Caminantes where we are camped.

This is probably our most authentic Camino experience so far.
Here is a shot of Brendan sitting in the Albergue charging up his iPhone and checking his emails. A well deserved rest as he walked 25.5km today.

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Day 24. Portomarin to Palas de Rei and back. 34 miles

Day 24. Portomarin to Palas de Rei. 17 miles (34 miles out and back)

I said I'd explain about today's activities. This is Brendan's first day of walking on the Camino. You have to do a minimum of 100km to qualify for an official Compostela certificate, and I guess have your name called out in the cathedral for completing a pilgrimage. 100km lies between. Sarria and Portomarin at a tiny place called Pinza. B chose to start at Sarria and I drove him there first thing.

After parking the car back at Portomarin, I set off to cycle the next bit of the route - to Palas de Rei. Not much in terms of distance, you might think, but the last two days involved climbing up and over a couple of mountain ranges, then the hilly road between Sarria and Portomarin, so I felt a bit lacking in energy. Also I had to cycle back from Palas de Rei to Portomarin.

The road climbs steadily from Portomarin for 12km and then cyclists and walkers are directed onto a narrow country lane. It's tarred though, but has a a lot of short steep ups and downs. So pretty exhausting. Beautiful scenery and a succession of tiny hamlets each with a cafe or two and some pilgrim accommodation. Ligonde was the biggest, and you felt you were cycling through someone's farmyard. They had certainly driven cattle along the Main Street recently!

Ligonde gives me a chance to mention languages. Hereabouts they don't speak the Castilian Spanish that we get taught at school, and that the phrase books use. Instead it's Galician, which sounds very different from Castilian. Place names often seem to have two versions, and you often see road signs that have been altered (informally) with spray paint. Ligonde has had the last two letters deleted, so I guess the Galician name is Ligon.

Cycling back against the tide of walking pilgrims was an odd experience. Instead of people's backs, you see their faces. Cyclists going with the crowd are assumed by walkers to be pilgrims, and often a greeting of 'Buen Camino' is exchanged. If going against the flow, the supply of greetings seems to dry up.
Back in Portomarin, I stopped off minto a supermarket and a gift shop. Stocking up on a few groceries and also to get a Camino T shirt and fridge magnet for B's birthday present.

B arrived back from his walk about 3pm, a bit footsore, but perked up after a cuppa, piece of chocolate cake, and a shower.

And here are his feet and boots after the first day's walk.

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Here's the first entries in B's Pilgrim Record.

Evening meal will be at the campsite cafe.

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