9.18.2016
Today we make a long walk as we begin our last 106km. We will walk the entire 68 miles now with no jumps as we need to walk the last 100km to obtain our certificate. This last portion of the journey has many more walkers. Many begin their walk at this stage. The paths are wide through villages and farms so the walk feels more like an easy trail walk. We are taking our time as much as we are able and stopping at the many cafes along the way. We usually are 2-3 hours ahead of the others in our group so we decide today that we are going to make many stops to lessen our wait for pick up. We share the trail with dogs, cats and milk cows and overall feel like we are out for a neighborhood stroll. We end our walk in Portomarin where you cross a long Roman bridge. We can see Roman ruins including the remains of the original Roman bridge on the banks and just below the river. We climb a steep set of stairs to enter the town which was moved to higher ground in the 1960’s after the river was dammed over the original Roman city. Many of the buildings including the church were moved to the new location brick by brick. The church is interesting in that it looks like more of a fortress. Come to find out it was built by the Templars to be just that. The inside is one of the most austere churches I have seen in Europe and we decide this one is our favorite. On another note, our hotel is more like a family home and working farm. It is so beautiful and the meals are all made by the proprietor. This morning she kept bringing out more home baked items to entice us. We are staying here again tonight and are supposed to be having a special stew of the region called Maragato. All the meat and vegetables will come from the owners garden and farm. When we returned this evening, our laundry was done and folded in our room. We usually have lunch at a cafe or albergue at the end of our walk and arrive to our accommodations around 5. Dinner in Spain does not happen until around 9pm. We usually nap, write in our journals or explore the village where we are staying before dinner. Staying up for dinner is a big challenge!
