Ugh...another early morning! Wake up at 6:30ish, wash, dress, repack backpack, repack dufflebag, read what I'm missing in the world, down for breakfast at 7:30. Pretty healthy, except for that delicious chocolate croissant that someone shared with me.
Straight north...21 km to Caldas de Reis. Let's do it!
We finally had the bright idea of holding up fingers to show the count for the day...day 4!
We were hardly down the street, before it began pouring. Day 4 take 2!
Church of Peregrina, distinct with its round shape...
We did go in and get a stamp, but I have no photo evidence of it!
Heading out of town...
There was lots of early morning traffic...
Ooh spooky...there appeared to be a seamstress who was making Halloween costumes?
More lovely Angel's trumpet flowers...
Still raining...
The colours were so vibrant. Another granary in the background...
Lynne's rock...be brave. Love this! And 63 km to Santiago de Compostela.
Oh, the eucalyptus trees! The smell was amazing. One of those things that you hope you'll always remember.
The usual photo! Gina and Laura ahead somewhere, Lynne and Terri, and me bringing up the rear. It was all the photos, really!
Pretty sky, very different courtyard...
There were a lot of "offerings" here...
Another little town...
Clear water...
"A truly great empire only stands for as long as its infrastructure, and no one knew that as well as the Roman Empire did. They created a network of highways throughout their lands that allowed relatively rapid and unimpeded journeying around Europe. While some of these roads are in ruin now, the Via Romana XIX’s Portuguese leg is still quite beautifully visible."
"Parts of this path were a military route and there are still engraved stones, walls, and bridges throughout the route that bear testament to the construction of this road many centuries ago. Walking the Camino Portugues through this route is especially beautiful and perfect for the nature enthusiasts in your group."
Lynne chatting with two ladies from Australia...
We had often noticed these spiky balls and were amazed to find they were chestnuts. Who knew!
Very mossy...very green.
Yay! Coffee break and lunch...
This place was a well-oiled machine...order and pay at the cash, proceed to another window to pick up your order. I had honey, walnuts and goat cheese. I kept thinking something was off...I removed some goat cheese, then some walnuts, and then I realized it was just a different flavour of honey.
A chapel on the grounds of the restaurant...
Lovely flowers...
More statues...
Another communal laundry...
Some awesome carvings!
Lots of chestnuts!
And a nice uphill...
This picture makes me laugh...a pilgrim came up the hill and started laughing. She said "Give me your phone. You're all in exactly the same position." It was pretty funny. Time for foot care...change of socks, vaseline, bandaids, toe gels...whatever was needed.
Lynne sent this photo to us after...a statue of a pilgrim outside a hostel. Looked familiar!
We had a great time pointing out the sign to people as we sat there. It always got a laugh and usually a photo!
Still enjoying our perch and watching pilgrims come up the hill.
Time to move on...no complaining!
More vineyards...
A cat!! He was definitely not interested in us.
To the untrained eye (mine) these looked like mature vines with grapes still on them.
Ooh coffee stop! Sign us up...
I am sure we ate something here, but I don't remember what. I do remember we thought a cider was a good idea.
Dude trying to hide behind the prickly pear cactus...
One of prickly pears fell off while Gina was standing there. It fell with quite a force...we checked around to see if someone had thrown it! OK...time to get moving.
Laura had told us about a waterfall that was 450 m away. The detour would add another kilometre. Oh well, what's another kilometre at this stage.
It was very pretty...
Really lovely...it was worth the detour.
And walking again...
The blue girls...
Another of Lynne's rocks...keep going!
To the left, to the left...we managed to find a song for just about anything.
The white dog was a really big boy...they were quiet when we went by. Sometimes, dogs would let two or three groups go by, but the next one would get a full show of barking. I got ambushed one or two times!
Ducks? Anything was worthy of a picture to break the monotony...
I think the spouts were duck heads as well. Great for wetting the rag around your neck.
Peaceful...note the turbines in the background.
And moving along...
A sign for our hotel...
And the cutest dog, who enjoyed his belly rub from Terri...
Yet another church or chapel...
At last, we hit the town of Caldas de Reis...there are hot springs here, which would have been delightful. Unfortunately, there was no time for that.
Other pilgrims...
Nice little town with a population of almost 10,000...
Righteo...that way, it is.
We were pretty tired by now and our feet were protesting.
Pretty...
Yes! Our hotel with Laura and Terri outside. It was a sweet little boutique hotel. Very comfortable, but without a kitchen, so we were walking to a restaurant.
Looking fresh and clean...
The Cruceiro Restaurante was about 5 minutes away...
This was the only restaurant that we weren't happy with. The waiter seemed to feel that pilgrims were annoyances. A rather bland looking plate...
All of the pilgrims were seated in one area and given a special menu. Two stars out of five...
Look at that nice even step count!
Tomorrow it's on to Padron, home of the yummy Padron peppers.
