Camino Portuguese Day 9 – we’re in Pontevedre for the day!
After seeing the forecast for today, we made the decision, correctly as it turns out, to avoid getting thoroughly soaked. There’s nothing more miserable than a sore soggy pilgrim. It has poured rain on and off for most of the day. The thunder and lightning provided a nice show last evening but thankfully did not appear today. I feel for anyone who was out walking the Camino today.
Being wet and on the Camino isn’t such a big issue while you’re walking. Everyone seems to have a decent rain coat or poncho or at least an umbrella, and covers for their packs. The Camino Portuguese in October is known for rain. Forget your rain gear and quick dry clothing and you’ll regret it very quickly. The biggest issue with the rain is in trying to dry everything in a hostel or hotel overnight. Putting on soggy shoes and socks the next day sucks. Dave and I both have spare gear, but everything seems to get damp/wet no matter how well it’s covered.
The place we’re staying in at the moment is wonderful. Casa Alicia is in the old quarter, located only a couple hundred metres from the Convent of San Francisco and the Pilgrim’s Chapel (see yesterday’s post for pics). When we got home this afternoon they had retrieved our washing from the line they’ve conveniently installed on the balcony window. Not only had they rescued it from the rain, they had folded the washing in a pile on the bed after having put it through the tumble drier. 🙂 🙂
This morning we hobbled about town, sampling the local cafe fare. Dave found a particularly suitable pastry for second breakfast – a custard donut half the size of his head.
There are more pics to follow of Pontevedre. I was wandering about with my proper camera this morning and got some great shots, but the images will need a bit of editing before posting. I’ve been using my Samsung Galaxy S7 for all other posts – it’s far more convenient on the trail to just use the phone cam than bother with a proper camera, and it’s also relatively waterproof.
We’re off to dinner shortly – I am heading straight for the sangria place from last night 🙂 Pulpo/octopus is a local specialty, so we’ll be sampling some of that later I think.
Bom caminho!