Day 12: Pontevedra to Armenteira (15 miles, 2300 ft elevation gain)
Walking the Camino
Pontevedra, where we stayed last night, has a large, beautiful historic area with winding streets filled with cafes, restaurants and shops. And people. So many people out and about. And so many pilgrims.
Pontevedra is where all the Camino Portugues paths converge. Also, it's close to where the 100-kilometer pilgrims start their journey. To get the Camino certificate in Santiago de Compostela, pilgrims need to have walked at least 100 km.
Before we knew it, we were in a traffic jam of pilgrim walkers. But then the paths diverged. We took the left turn for the "Variente Espirituale" an alternative route that loops around a wild and beautiful area closer to the coast than the more direct regular route. Also more hilly. Just about everyone else in the growing group of pilgrims took the straight path up towards Santiago. I was relieved to break from the pack and restore some of the peace and quiet we had earlier in the way.
Our route took us through a nice coastal town before sending us on a persistent and sometimes steep climb. Up, up, up. While taking a break on the backside coming toward Armenteira, a middle-aged Hispanic couple walked by. She, the wife, was all sunshine, chatter and giggles. The husband dragged behind, paused when he came to us, and said with a smirk, "It never ends.'"
For me, this was a reference to all the walking, walking, walking. Jessica heard it as a nod to his bubbly wife and all the talking, talking, talking. Either way it was a fun little moment.
We came down the last hill and emerged from the woods to see a lovely old cafe at the bottom. It sits right by the 12th century monastery that is the spiritual and historic center for this place.
Here we saw a familiar face, Tracy from South Africa. We had walked some of the climb together. We talked, among other things, about the idea of a walking vacation. Apparently, there are good, supported routes in England, Scotland, Italy, etc. She mentioned the Pacific Crest Trail in the US. But then she added, "None of those are like this one. Whether you're religious or not, here you're walking on a trail that has been travelled for a thousand years. There's something about that."
As Tracy came out off the path into the square, applause broke out from the cafe. The two Kiwi trekkers led the cheers. They had walked with Tracy earlier in the day. We came out right behind her and the applause continued... "Dad and daughter!" Other pilgrims at the cafe joined the cheers. I couldn't help but break out a huge grin. We celebrated our arrival with drinks and patatas bravas.
We ended the day with a Pilgrim's Blessing service at the monastery. The nuns sang hymns to celebrate God and invite His blessings on our journey, intermingled with long periods of silence. At the end, several of the nuns and the priest stood up, turned to face us, and read the "Blessing for the pilgrim" in several languages. We were deeply touched.
God bless, fellow pilgrims.
Bonus pic
Our full route with overnights pinned