At 15 km (just over 9 miles) today was a relatively short day.
After a tasty breakfast where I had tortilla a traditional Spanish potato omelette we set off in high spirits off towards Melide.
The weather was overcast but at around 8:30 am, shortly after leaving the cabins, the sun was already starting to break through the clouds. We passed more traditional houses as we left Palas de Rei complete with their heurros. I noticed the above heurro was number 9 – apparently they often have numbers so you can send mail to them!
We were soon out in the woods and today we noticed a complete lack of pilgrims! I think this was probably as many continue on through Melide and to the next stage, thus walking these two short stages in one day. Many doing this would most likely have started earlier than us to make a good start on the 18 miles they would need to cover.
We came to a gorgeous little coffee shop and as there was no queue we decided to stop there. And what a good decision that was!
Here we shared a slice of homemade Santiago Tarte which is an almond sponge cake and tasted delicious. ‘Tarta de Santiago’ or the cake of St James originated in the Middle Ages and is a historic cake of the camino. It isn’t visible on the slice above but the cakes are traditionally decorated with the St James cross (below).
The coffee shop owner captured this photo of Bridget and I as we were leaving.
Pretty sunflowers between the coffee shop and the artisan jewellery shop to brighten up the post!
Again, in no hurry to push on with the walk we decided to have a browse in an artisan silver jewellery shop next door to the coffee shop.
This was quirky and worth a visit. Bridget made a small purchase and we were each given a small shiny amythist pebble to help us to sleep well. The owner had a small dog called Little Wolf and his pilgrim stamp was a paw print 🐾
After an enjoyable little stop in the coffee shop and jewellery shop we pressed on with the walking…
Throughout the walk fellow pilgrims and locals regularly call out “Buen Camino” which means “Good Way” to wish you well on your journey.
An albergue is a Spanish pilgrim hostel and many pilgrims stay in them as part of the whole camino experience. Like hostels they often have dorm rooms with bunk beds and communal kitchen and lounge areas.
Time for a pilgrim stamp!
Arriving into Melide!
Or so we thought… we were excited to think we were nearly there until we checked Google Maps and found we were staying in the new part of Melide which meant another 30 minutes of walking!
Once we had passed through old Melide after the 30 more minutes or so we had entered new Melide. Follow the Camino explains this is the place where the Camino Frances and the Camino Primivito meet.
We followed Google Maps until we reached our accommodation for the night.
Which was the only hostel of the holiday which was fine with the most powerful shower of the entire trip! The type which gives your shoulders a massage but also has a tendency to spill all over the bathroom floor.
5 pm lunch and dinner combined! Bridget and I had walked to meet Nadine and Sawyer to join them for dinner in a well known restaurant which specialised in octopus (pulpo) which is popular in this Galician region of Spain. However they had already arrived and were not too impressed with the place. And I would not want to eat an octopus either (as I like octopuses) so instead we had a delicious meal in nearby Brooklyn Burger which was just £11 including 2 glasses of wine.
Every evening at 6.30 or 7.00 pm Elu our G Adventures guide called the group together and gave us a briefing for the following day. Today this took place on the sun trap roof terrace. At the beginning she had set up a Whatsapp group and sent us detailed information on the route, timings and recommended places to stop so we were kept fully informed at all times.
After the meeting Bridget and I had a walkabout the town.
This was festival week in Melide and a band were setting up in the main square. We didn’t stay to watch it, instead making our way back to the hostel for the rest of the evening.
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