Date: Wed 16 October 2024
This was our biggest day on the walk—30 km. It rained off and on for a lot of the day. Once again we passed through little villages, with stone homes, churches and horreos. Today there were also multiple stone crosses along our path. We bumped into the “Ladies from Shep” at multiple times today, walking for a while together and then peeling off.
Around lunchtime we arrived in Melide, a reasonable sized town. Just before entering the town we crossed the Ponte de San Xoán de Furelos. At this stage we were walking with the “Ladies from Shep” and as we walked through the main part of town a man preparing Galician Octopus at the front of a restaurant called us over for a try. A few of us had some and then decided to go in for lunch—luckily because as we sat down the rain started to bucket down. It was a very large restaurant that soon became packed to the rafters. G and I shared some salad and croquettes. After lunch we split from the “Ladies from Shep” to hunt down some of the local pastries called melindres, which are a bit like small iced donuts. We bought a bag and snacked on them as we kept walking to Arzua, sharing them with “The Ladies from Shep” when we caught up with them. Unfortunately I didn’t take a photo—I was too busy enjoying them.
While in Melide we also had a little look around the main square and inside the Sancti Spiritus Church, but we needed to keep going as we still had a fair way to walk. The path took us through some lovely forest areas. There was one section that smelt like home, because the forest was dominated by gum trees. They have actually become a weedy nuisance in this part of the world.
We arrived at our accommodation—Pazo Santa Maria—around 4:45 pm and settled in quickly. G booked himself in for a massage and we got a drink in the lounge. I settled into the comfy couch and chatted with a lady from the US. Dinner was a three course meal. We sat next to newly-weds from Italy and had a little chat with them before our entrees. Dinner was good, and we went back to our room tired from the day and ready for bed. Just as we were turning off the light we heard noises from the room next door. The walls were obviously very thin. We surmised it was the newly-weds and what followed was two hour, multi-lingual, triple-satisfaction enjoyment—for them, not us. Let’s just say that we were very happy not to run into them next day at breakfast, but we did see them in the distance at various times over the rest of our pigrimage.
The stats from G’s Garmin for the Palas de Rei to Arzua leg of the Camino: Distance – 30.00 km; Total Elevation Gain – 660 m; Moving Time: 6:18:04.
And off my Garmin for that day: Steps – 43,757
Have you ever had an obviously happy couple disrupt your sleep?
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