Day 8 on the Camino

We had a great “leisurely” day on the Camino and only walked just under 20 km from Redondela to Pontevedra. After the marathon yesterday, our pace was definitely a little slower today, but we were still feeling pretty good.

As is the case most days, we again began today with some beautiful views.

Charlotte started early today, but she was kind enough to wait for me at our first coffee stop. This was a popular pilgrimage stop, and it was nice to run into someone we had last seen about three days ago! That is a fun part of the Camino - because everyone has a different pace or a different goal day to day, you might spend time with folks one day and not see them again, or you might randomly meet up with them several days later.  We’ve really enjoyed making Camino friends along the way.  Yesterday, I even walked for an hour or so with a guy who used to live in Pawleys Island!

We’ve crossed a number of smaller and some larger bridges, including this one, that were once part of the Via Romana XIX (Road XIX), and a portion of the Camino follows the road itself. The road is an ancient 4th century Roman route connecting the cities of Braga (Portugal), Lugo, and Astorga (Spain). Documented in the Antonine Itinerary, it was vital for trade and military operations.

This isn’t part of the Via Romana XIX, but just a cool picture of some of the scenery we saw today.

And we saw many of these structures as we walked through Galicia yesterday and today. Do you know what these are?

Charlotte did some research and learned that this is called an Hórreo. It is a traditional agricultural building designed to store and preserve food, especially grain, away from moisture and animals. A little research reveals that most of these around Galicia were built in the 18th century.

I’ve posted a little about the Pilgrims credential that we are carrying. We get it stamped at albergues, coffee shops, restaurants and other places along the way, and when we get to Santiago, the credentials will be used to verify that we have completed at least a 100 km journey on the Camino. There are even individuals that set up along the way, just to greet pilgrims and share their own custom stamps. We are having fun collecting them along the way!

Today we encountered for the first time a shop that was doing wax seals (bottom left).

Then we came upon a man who was selling drinks and snacks, and he was doing custom wax seals in your choice of colors.  My finished product is in the upper right above, and if you look closely, you can see his finishing touch of a tiny metal scallop shell that he set into the wax.

We are beginning to see more people along this portion of the Camino. During our first few days, we would see a few dozen other pilgrims along the way. Today was a much different picture as you can see. There are a couple of reasons for this. Because of the 100 km requirement, Tui, Spain (which we traveled through yesterday) is a popular starting point for pilgrims seeking a shorter experience. Also, like the lines on the scallop shell, the various routes of the Camino are starting to converge as we get closer to Santiago, so we will likely see many more pilgrims over the next few days.

We arrived at the albergue in good time today, where this pilgrim mural greeted us.

Then we headed to the beautiful old city of Pontevedra for some amazing tapas and wine!

On a stroll through the old city, we saw the 13th century Convento de San Francisco. According to tradition, the convent was founded by Francis of Assisi, who stopped in Pontevedra while doing the Portuguese route of the Camino de Santiago. How exciting - last month I visited the Cathedral (and tomb) of St. Francis in Assisi, and today I learned that he walked this same route of the Camino around the year 1214!

This is the interior of the beautiful Iglesia de la Virgen Peregrina, an 18th century church dedicated to the patron saint of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago. The sanctuary is in the shape of a scallop shell, symbol of the pilgrims, and at the top, there is a relief that represents the flight to Egypt and the image of the Pilgrim Virgin with the Child Jesus in her arms. The picture at the top of today’s post was also taken in this church.

They offered a Pilgrims Mass this evening which I attended. Sadly I’m not sure I understood much more than the Portuguese Mass earlier in the week, but it was still lovely.

In the “random things you see” category, these guys were out on the street as I came out of Mass.

And now, it’s time for some well-deserved rest!