Day 28: Boimorto to Pedrouzo, I did it!

As you recall, I was hurting at the end of yesterday.  I'd booked a room in a hotel that had been open for three months on the site of a 16th century palace in the woods.  It felt like a bad idea as I walked the extra distance there on a dirt road, but boy was I wrong.

The Hotel Pazo de Bieite may be one of the nicest places I've stayed.  It's in Boimorto, i.e. in the middle of nowhere.  Everything about it screams 4 or 5 stars, but because they don't have AC, they've got 2, count 'em 2 stars.

There's an original Camino marker on the front yard of the hotel 

They made me a gluten-free sandwich on arrival,  ham and cheese, accompanied by a nice Albariño.   Yes, I was already feeling better. 

So here we are, the next day, and I'm feeling like yesterday never happened.   That's the cumulative effect of 17 hours of rest,  3 square meals, and 400 mg of ibuprofen,  courtesy of the hotel. Best hotel ever.

I started out on the day's walk at 8:30, well after my usual time.  My personal marching orders were to keep the pace reasonable and avoid feeling any negative feedback from the knee that gave me problems yesterday. 

As always, the walk was beautiful,  and I was alone as I walked through the countryside. 

Eucalyptus forests. They smell good, but they're here purely until they get harvested. 

Approaching Sendelle,  about a half hour out of Boimorto. 

Today's plan was to walk to Arzua, about 9.7 kilometers, to join with the French Route of the Camino.   From there,  I'd walk 21.9 kilometers to Pedrouzo. 

At this point, let me point out that the app, the books, and reality don't agree on these names or distances! I feel very lucky,  after a day of walking,  to be in the place I reserved two days ago... I digress.

So, after two hours, I make it to Arzua,  and it's immediately apparent that there are a lot more pilgrims on the French Route than where I came from. Heck, the only pilgrim I met this morning was walking home. 

The pause that refreshes...

As I sat there, having this Coke and communicating with Tina who'd just arrived in Santiago,  I couldn't help but notice the groups of pilgrims passing by.  In 15 minutes, you saw a day's worth of pilgrims on the Northern Route. 

I finished up and joined them. From here, it would be 19.3 Km.  (Already a discrepancy.) I need to share some first impressions. 

After four weeks of the sparsely traveled Northern Route, people hogging up the entire path was a new experience. 

Pilgrims carrying bags of groceries?  That's not sustainable...

I saw people pushing baby carriages,  school groups, people with commercial radio stations turned up loud... This was not my miserable existence from just an hour earlier!

Then there were the amenities. 

It seemed like every kilometer or two there was another bar catering to pilgrims.   Food. Coffee.  Mojitos!  I admit it.  I was jealous. 

These people,  many of them were miserable.  They'd just started a few days earlier in Sarria,  and they were limping. I talked to a really nice Irish lady who was powering through the pain.  God bless her.

What struck me were the parents with their adolescent kids.  Dad's strutting up front while the son is shuffling in the most negative body-language way possible behind... Dads carrying everyone's backpacks...  Folks, don't force this on your kids.

At 1 PM, I sat on a stone wall and carved chorizo and cheese with a pocket knife.  I felt like a Spanish Boy Scout. That was my 15 minute food break. People I had passed en route now passed me by saying "Buen Provecho" (enjoy your meal) or "Buen Camino".  Belatedly,  I felt that I needed to be in the moment and not just speeding through the day like yesterday. 

I resumed the walk at 1:15 PM.

There is wheat in Spain.  It contains gluten. 

As it approached 2 PM, the bars and restaurants along the Camino filled up.  I still had an hour to go, but I was getting jealous.   What a nice existence:  walk until mealtime,  and then have a real meal. Then resume your Camino...

Tina and I realized that having a nice meal,  especially if it's accompanied by wine, makes walking afterwards much more tedious. My British friend Dave said the same thing about having beers en route.  Let it wait until you get there...  But that wasn't the case on this route...

At 3 PM, I got to my albergue (where I have a private room, thank you very much). I showered and got a real lunch at a local restaurant.   Afterwards,  I did laundry and hung it up outside.   It's hot today,  in the 80's. Hopefully everything dries.

Let the record show that I will finish this Camino with clean clothes. 

Today was officially 29.58 kilometers,  but who really knows?  I made it through the day with no pain.  I have two spare ibuprofen pills if anyone needs one.

Tomorrow,  I walk to Santiago.  It's maybe 20 kilometers.   Tina, my son Chris,  and my daughter-in-law Laura will be there to meet me. I think I'll shave in the morning so I don't look as crappy as I did in 2015 and 2019.

After the Portuguese Camino 2015...

Finishing the French Route in 2019. Nice poncho...

Between you and me, it will be nice to stop walking. 

I'll let you be the judge.