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Pontevedra to Caldas de Rais. Spain.
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April 15th 2017
Easter Friday in Pontevedra was something special. Spain is a Catholic country as we know, but you don’t really appreciate it until you experience Easter here.
Last night I had a wee siesta and then ventured out at 7 to find thousands of people waiting for something to happen. That something was the Easter Friday parade which started from the cathedral and consisted of every possible division of Catholicism and the associated brass band, possible.
At a guess, 7 bands and the same number of groups complete with floats. In true Spanish style there was more brocade than a Queen reunion concert. Lots of pointy hats too.
The drums and drama were fantastic and clearly meant a lot to the people ranging from kids of 6 to elders of 70+. The parade started at 815 and kept going until 10.
By this time I was eating beef tataki and enjoying another Galician vino Tinto, only to find the bands came back and went around a second time! Crawling into my nice soft bed in a triple glazed room I slept until 630.
Hitting the road at 845 I was asked to join a great bunch of Brazilians who were staying at the hotel but opted to go alone.
Leaving the city in a colder morning I followed the way through the outskirts of the city until I got to farmland for the 21.5 km walk to Caldas de Rais. You know you have been walking a while when you think 21.5 kms is nothing.
The other indicator is that I am struggling to get my heart rate up over 100 and into the fat burn zone, despite walking at 5 km an hour. You know also that if your average pace is .82 that you can get a speed advantage by simply lengthening your stride to closer to 1 metre.
Going through some pretty country on tracks through forests and then open farmland, I was getting frustrated at the number of people on the road – seemingly one group every 100 metres.
Perhaps inspired by the Spanish military band music last night, I queued up great movie sound tracks once again to avoid the sound of people chattering, and made my way through the groups to find my space on the road.
The going was pretty simple and I felt strong from the outset. Might have been the aspirin or the bacon and eggs..who knows.
Along the way I spotted a kid going past me on a mountain bike with a Pontevedra Rugby jacket on. Intrigued and coming up on them later on I stopped to talk to his Dad about Rugby in Spain, which you can imagine is about as popular as maypole dancing in England. (Or is that where you go on the weekends Graham & Aly?)
The farmland continued through to a small village or two before quite quickly, Caldas de Reis loomed. 21.5kms in 4.5 hours.
Caldas means hot in Spanish and it proved to be based on a hot spring that bubbles up.
Having stopped for a lunch of salad and grilled peppers (small addiction there), I bumped into Marco and then after eventually finding my hotel, some Americans from Arizona who I had met before.
Dale is a retired state trooper and they were sitting outside the hotel celebrating an Irish girls 19th birthday. Interesting in that the Arizonan lady knew everyone and everything about people on the Camino and was trying to match make the Irish girl with one of the Brazilian lads.
A couple of Cervazas ensued sitting in what was now the hot sun with a bit of **** flowing backwards and forwards. Apparently the hotel has let itself go and two Australians are staying here tonight.
For me tonight will consist of finding dinner in what is a tiny little town, and an early night in what is my second to last night before hitting Santiago on Easter Monday.
STEPS: 30,248 or 24.5km
MLC THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Not sure I am ready for this to end
WEIGHT: think washboard with a thick coating and big handles and that will explain it
BODY STATE: 8/10
SPANISH: 3/10
WILLERTONS WORLD 