Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis; 22.5kms (4.10.25)

Last night we found quite a nice restaurant In Pontevedra. As most restaurants were opening after 8.15pm for dinner, we pilgrims seek an earlier meal and have limited choices. So this restaurant looked small on the outside but busy already after 7.30pm so that indicated the food was good. We walked inside and were directed out the back into a bigger room. Dinner was excellent. But in Spain, when you ask for vino blanco, they give only a small amount in a big glass and Karen moans, It’s not enough! Two sips and it’s finished! So she had 3 small potion wines. Mr D had straight whisky and they are very generous with the amount they give! I had enough of beer and wine and had a very generous amount of rum with coke. We had some Canadians at the table next to us. They were just travelling around Spain and interested to know our status as an odd three people group. They assumed we had all met on the Camino. Everyone is generally interested in our relationship so to speak 😆. 

In our little downstairs apartment, on our little bed with short legs, it feels like the bed is almost on the floor. We slept in our liners, paranoid about bed bugs. It was hot and stuffy though and Mr D decided to turn the heater back on in the early hours of the morning as he was cold! There was no fan and I was like no I’m sweating here! So he compromised and turned it off and put the albergue blanket over him for warmth. 

We got up early to prepare breakfast and microwave my cuppa tea as there was a kettle but not an electric plug in one. It went on the hot plate but the hot plate wasn’t working. Karen’s alarm went off half an hour later and the zombie appeared in the kitchen saying how little sleep she had. How unenthusiastic she was as she is every morning, about walking that day. Oh no! Do we have to? Can’t we just catch a taxi? Haha No Karen. Mr D was keen to start early before the rains. It forecasted rain in the afternoon. They were wrong. Mr D goes, no bother to leave early, it is raining outside now! 

So just after 7.30am we left into the drizzling rain. This is the real Galician weather we hadn’t experienced yet. Today it was overcast, low clouds, drizzle, heavier drizzle, all day! It never stopped raining the whole walk. And it wasn’t cold, it was humid, humid and wet. The walk is fairly flat with a few hills. No villages, but a few cafe / bars along the way. When Karen and I stepped off the path to desperately pee, we followed the trail of used toilet paper and stepped in someone’s number 2’s. Gross! The wet ground and rain cleaned anything yucky on our shoes away. We walked through some beautiful woodland with moss growing everywhere and up the trees. In the rainy and misty environment it felt like another world, stunning and surreal. 

After 9kms, we hit a cafe which of course was full of pilgrims and they were all crammed inside as the outside tables and chairs were all wet. We found a table inside a shed of sorts and got a round of coffees and cakes. Had another Australian woman from Brisbane sitting at the next table that was listening to our voices and goes Are you Australian?  Yep. She has walked from Baiona. So the cafe had two toilets. And there were queues of ladies waiting for the female toilet so some started using the male toilet. So every time Mr D went to see if it was free, there was a lady in there. He decided to walk on as easy for men to pee by the side of the road. 

Onwards we continued as the rain eased off to a light drizzle. The pilgrim highway continued. Pilgrims with light packs, pilgrims with heavy packs. Pilgrims with those big ponchos that cover them and the backpack making them look like humpback of Notre Dame. Some chose umbrellas like us. Most either had rain jackets or ponchos on. One man walked the whole section with cerebral palsy. People like that are an inspiration, determined to do a walk despite physical disadvantage. We started moving through back quiet roads and vineyards. After 15kms we hit another cafe that was full of pilgrims. We stopped for lunch here and the only free tables were the ones outside in the rain. The owners had set up a couple of long tables in their garage shed so we organised ourselves there, grabbed a light lunch meal with coke. Again being too good and not having alcohol! The queue for the one toilet was a 25 minute wait. Ahhhh well. So I waited. There was another bar further up away from the track that looked less busy but we weren’t to know. 

We had another 6kms to walk and the rain had become more heavy. By this point I was over the rain, being wet, having wet shoes and feet, and still sweating as it was humid. So I increased my walking speed passing many pilgrims. One pilgrim in a black poncho was in front of me and dropped their guts. Charming, the elephants were out. 😄 We joke about elephants blowing their trumpets meaning farting. Bahahaha! I pulled into Caldas de Reis with Mr D hot on my heels trying to catch up. Karen lagged behind, got lost, asked someone for directions as her phone was playing up but made it to the apartment about 15 minutes later. And the rain stopped! 

We have upgraded from last night into a great and comfortable apartment. And has a washing machine plus dryer! Believe me, no apartment had a dryer. But luck had it when we had drenched soggy shoes that won’t dry overnight, we were given a dryer. So we are spoiled here. But no food, a coffee machine with no coffee. But we have muesli still from yesterday. No wine glasses! But we will do with small normal drinking glasses.  Found a swanky little cafe / restaurant that serves cocktails and tapas only 50 metres from our apartment. So we didn’t venture far and had a slap up dinner and drinks, and the cost so cheap!  Some lady kept glancing over checking out my Mr D – the silver fox, he is interesting after all! Eyes elsewhere love! 😄 We ended the night drinking a bottle of Crema De Ginebra and listening to music on the JbL, something we hadn’t done since Apulia. My feet are hurting today from the pounding on pavement all day. Karen has pulled up very well, her foot not causing her grief like yesterday. Mr D decided today to hang back and walk with us or behind us to obviously keep an eye that there wasn’t any problems like yesterday. So we have under 50 kilometres to Santiago now, the finish is very close. 😊