On the way

Well here we are two days into the Camino and we have made it to the lovely Hotel Casa Benilde in Palas de Rei in one piece. Just as importantly our luggage has also made it to our accommodation for the second day in a row so the system is working well. After 21.5km yesterday and 25km today we are looking forward to a couple of smaller days tomorrow and Monday.

Before we started - all keen
and dry!

We had debated whether to put the blog into sabbatical during the Camino but we will continue it. Yesterday was rather wet in the morning as is evidenced by the photo Elizabeth posted on Facebook but fortunately our preparations enabled us and our belongings to remain nice and dry. It was an amazing day as we set off with Katrina - another Queenslander we had happened across at our accommodation in Sarria. Walking through the Spanish countryside with lots of other pilgrims the weather did not concern us at all although we were pleased to take the opportunity of a break after a couple of hours at a stop to get a coffee and warm up. Lots of country lanes and small farming communities and dairy herds - where the cows had obviously been up the same laneway. Walking the Camino was such a contrast to the days before in Paris where we had planned our itinerary and route with military precision - consulting maps, planning which stop we needed to exit the Metro, how many blocks before turning, street names etc. We set off from Sarria with the goal of Portomarin some 21kms away with no map (well we did really have one in our pocket but never referred to it) and trust that we would find the way.There is a certain freedom in slowing down and just walking and giving yourself the opportunity to notice the small things (like the birds in the trees, the moss growing on the rocks, the dry packed stone walls which have stood undisturbed for so many years) without being so obsessed with the things which seem to demand our attention.

After about an hour -
a bit wet!

Reservoir at Portomarin

We parted ways with Katrina at a place called Morgade around lunch time as she had reached her accommodation for the night while we forged on to Portomarin. We may catch up again in Santiago as we have a couple of nights there before heading to Ireland. It may be something which is world wide but the people of rural Spain just seem so generous and welcoming - like you find in Australia. We made it in to Portomarin after crossing the reservoir and found our accommodation. We thought Portomarin was a ghost town as we arrived at 3:00pm only to realise that nothing happens in Spain between about 2:00pm and 4:00pm. Even after 4:00pm it was not exactly rocking - there were a lot of buildings for not very many people. Portomarin in another similarity to rural areas in Australia is certainly in decline - when speaking with the person who ran the hotel when she was at school there were 500 children there, now there is only about 50. Families are leaving farms and those families still on farms are much smaller - the Camino is really a major source of income for this part of Spain. We went to Mass at 7:30pm (well it indicated it was 7:30pm but that was the time the Rosary commenced) in the Iglesia de San Nicolas which was moved stone by stone to its present location when the original town of Portomarin was flooded by the reservoir. It really must be the coldest church in the world - while the day was not really cold it was freezing in the church. We had dinner after that (as nobody starts to serve dinner until after 7:00pm) and then had a great night's sleep - walking 20km can start to tire you out. We are really struggling with meal times - in Sarria the hotel we were in did not even open the restaurant for dinner until 9:00pm!!
Today we managed to stay virtually dry - only a couple of misty showers even though it threatened all day. The threatening sky was enough to mean the camera stayed stashed away safe and dry. Even though we had further to walk today we arrived in Palas de Rei a little earlier so taking the opportunity to do the blog before heading to the church to get our 'stamp' before mass at 8:00pm. Try putting Saturday night mass on at 8:00pm in Australia - don't know how many takers there would be!

Wayside cross - Mary this side

And Jesus this side -
a Galician custom

We must say that even the animals adjust to Spanish time - we started walking about 8:15am again this morning and after a couple of hours we passed a dairy where the girls were obviously only just starting to be milked! Today's walking was not as interesting as yesterday's as for the first part (about 10km) we seemed to follow the main road with no little villages. Eventually we did head off through some of the back lanes and even managed to see some stands of Eucalyptus tree so it felt very much like home. We did stop at a lovely little albergue at Portos for lunch where I had some Galician pie (Empanada) and Elizabeth had ham and beans and eggs. Elizabeth has had no problem with meals with lots to choose from which has been a relief.

Gum trees in Spain

Love to all
S&E