Camino Day 3: Palais de Rei to Arzúa

Today we got up for the earliest start thus far to give ourselves breaks and to tackle our longest trek in one day - 18 miles / 29 kms. As our hotel restaurant was not open for breakfast, we started our journey and walked for almost 2 hours before we ate breakfast at the place below in Cassanova:



We passed several restaurants and villages, but we surmised that many were closed as it was Sunday. We noted we needed to be careful for our lunch as we could easily miss an opportunity to eat. Overall, we made good time seeing the usual folks on our previous days. At one point, Tresa’s husband Roland called and Tresa was able to share our walk through the video chat which you can see below - technology is such an amazing thing:

We walked through many adorable villages these past few days, but the bridge below was picturesque and we took many photos:

After crossing the bridge, we stopped in the church and said a prayer since it was Sunday:

The weather was the most ideal today of all the days so far, as it was mostly overcast and there was a consistent breeze. We feared late afternoon rain everyday, but I only felt a drop today and nothing else.

We walked through a pretty large city called Melide, and had to work a bit to spot the yellow arrows or markers - here are a few photos including one of the Sunday market:

We pass many farms, but today we passed this fruit stand of local berries and Tresa purchased raspberries and cherries that we shared for a few hundred meters. We asked the fruit stand owner if he had done the Camino and he said just this past December with his wife. Their Compostelas were laminated and posted on the side of the fruit stand which was in front of his pink car:

There was a lot of forest walking today which was nice, but led to a few mosquito bites for me and Mary Ann. Here’s a photo of Tresa and me crossing a stream:

After what seemed like a never ending hill, we decided to have lunch and shared a cheese sandwich and ham omelette at clearly what was the usual “after mass hangout.” Many people were dressed in their Sunday best:

The last stretch consisted of many steep hills. Mary Ann would start to sing and hum and I asked her if she was really being musical or if she was in pain; she replied that she was in pain and was singing through it with every step. Like I mentioned before, although the uphills could be tiring, the downhills were particularly tough on our sore feet and joints.

After a few rolls up and down the Spanish hills, we finally arrived in Arzúa. We could have stayed in the one town earlier - Ribadiso, but since Arzúa was bigger, we stretched to the next town. However, I conveniently booked the first hotel within the city. Here’s a photo of one of the sidewalk markers, leading the pilgrims through the town:

We had booked a triple room at Hotel Arzúa and our luggage was reliably sitting in the lobby. Upon arrival, we drank our magnesium cocktails, so we could make sure our muscles didn’t cramp up. Here’s a photo of the magnesium:

We washed up, relaxed, and watched the US Women beat the Netherlands in the Women’s World Cup and headed out to dinner. After doing a boomerang down the street, we ended up at the restaurant right next to our hotel. We ordered the fixed menu which included a drink, dessert, and an entree. We ate steak, rice and meatballs, and spaghetti Bolognese with some wine, ice cream, and tarta Santiago which is a Spanish almond cake. A collage below:

At dinner and like at all meals on this trip, we reflect on the people we met and observed throughout the day. On the Camino, you do a lot of people watching and chatting. Today was the longest stretch and we met new folks and saw the usual: the praying couple, the boys with the speakers, the yellow shirt students, the blue sweatshirt students, the pink shirt ladies, the guy with water bottles in his cargo pants, ice cream couple, the family with teenage boys, the family with two girls on bikes, the father-son on bikes, the Canadians, the lady in the skirt, the Japanese fivesome from Yokohama, the Korean mother-daughter, the tall guy, the German lady, and etc. We keep passing each other as we all take breaks at different times, and as we pass, we cheer each other on.

It’s pretty incredible we are all here doing the same exact thing. As Mary Ann said last night while sitting outside with Tresa, “I’m in so much pain,” when a lady nearby remarked, “we’re all in pain.” Indeed we are and this is what makes the Camino so special. And today, we saw the driver two times as we have seen everyday (pictured below), as he ran back to meet his group of students in yellow shirts. He said to us “un poquito más” which means “a little more” - he too is encouraging us as he is basically doing double the Camino by running back and walking forward with his students. And all I wanted to say is, “don’t you want to do a soduku puzzle instead, man?” 

But then I wonder, what nickname do people have for us? The two Indians and the Korean girl who speaks pigeon Spanish? Who knows? What I do know is Diana from Moldova who actually lives in Italy and is an event planner has a selfie of us right outside of Palais de Rei, and a Japanese man took our photo while drinking coffee with our feet up on a chair in Melide... these are the memories and perhaps they will remember us too...