Post written by Laura
Day 2 of our Camino and we woke up again to grey and misty weather. Which was great as this meant we would have another cool and refreshing start to the day. Again we packed our cases, had breakfast in the hotel and set off for another 15 miles towards a town called Palas de Rei.
As we left Portomarin we had the option of the left route which is more difficult or the right… as we had 15 miles ahead of us we chose right…
We followed the path gently uphill, through the woods in the cool 15 degrees weather.
A rare empty section in front of us… most of the time we were following hundreds of people!
On this section of the Camino we had to walk for a couple of hours before coming to any facilities for coffee or refreshments.
We passed tiny villages with rustic houses.
The weather remained cloudy and overcast until midday which meant a comfortable walking temperature for a few hours.
Today we had a long and steady incline for the first half of the day.
By midday the sun began to break through the clouds and the temperature reached a maximum of around 28 degrees today.
We stopped for drinks and snacks a couple of times however decided to wait until we arrived in Palas de Rei before having a proper meal.
Passing through another small village…
We stopped in this tiny church and had our pilgrim passports stamped. As mentioned in the previous post we were required to collect a minimum of 2 x passport stamps each day and ensure these were dated in order to receive our Camino certificates (‘compostelas’). This was really easy to do as every church, bar, coffee shop, restaurant and hotel each had a stamp so we generally able to collect around 6 stamps per day.
Butternut squash is another Camino symbol. In the past, pilgrims would hollow them out and use them as water carriers.
We had reached our accommodation after about 14 miles today but it was 3 km short of the official end point in the town of Palas de Rei. Bridget and I decided not to check in but to continue on to the town, have a late lunch/early dinner then spend the rest of the evening at the hotel.
Palas de Rei is a small town with a population of just over 3000. The above church dates from the 12th century.
Today was a national holiday in Spain and Elu had warned there may not be many places open. We found the town to be busy by the time Bridget and I had arrived but by around 4 pm we had found a table in a slightly upmarket restaurant called ‘Reloxeria’ and had a delicious meal.
In fact, this is worthy of a photo for a happy memory of one of the best vegetable lasagnes I’ve tasted, especially when washed down with a couple of glasses of local Rioja 🙂
Tonight we stayed in cabins in the Hotel Alda Palas de Rei which was located a 15 minute walk back along the camino from the town centre. From the meal and by around 6 pm we had checked in and collected our main luggage from the luggage store.
As the weather was hot (still around 28 degrees) and there was a garden at the back of the cabins with a large washing line, we did some washing. Well, I washed 2 items only, my lightweight walking trousers and hat!
Elu did her evening briefing in the sun in the garden of the cabins giving us information for the following day. Bridget and I then went back and chilled in the room.
frombluetogreen.com 
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