Day Eight: We Split Up

That evening in Pontevedra we went out with Bart and had tapas at a place he'd seen during the day.  The high point of the meal was an octopus risotto with mussels and seaweed.  We were all still talking about it the next day.  It had saffron in it and was bright orange.

We left the hotel at 6:45 and  Michelle seemed annoyed at how long it took to  check out.  Unlike in the US, they hadn't taken my payment information on check in.  Michelle had seen pilgrims walking past the hotel--and we can't have any of that, now can we?

It was another beautiful morning as we walked through the countryside.  We'd analyzed the map with our friends the day before and knew that there was a cafe two hours out and another one two hours later.

When we reached the first cafe, Bart and the Dutch girls, Anne and Marlose, were sitting under a grape arbor.  In Galicia, everyone seems to have albariño growing on wires suspended about seven feet in the air.  Underneath, it's very shady and cool.

We had our coffee and refreshments, and Michelle announced that she wanted to walk with the girls.  That was fine with me.  I walked with Bart.  The girls walked so fast they disappeared.

One of the things that amused us was the group of Canadian turegrinos who were covering our route.  About once an hour, we'd come to an intersection where we'd see their tour bus waiting to hand out refreshments or succor.  We had to take a picture.

We found the girls a few hours later eating at the side of the road.  Anne and Marlose were eating.  Michelle's food was in my backpack..  We sat with them and snacked while other pilgrims walked by us.  We asked one to take this picture.

We continued on to our destination, Caldas de Reis, a dumpy little town that has attracted people to its hot springs since Roman times.    In the center of town, we found the girls with their feet in a thermal fountain just as the guidebook described.

Ann Bertrand and Michelle, caught in the act

Except the guide book said nothing about the old lady who came by and told us that we couldn't do that and that the Guardia Civil were going to come by and fine us.  I could tell by the looks on the other locals that the old woman was a bit nuts, but we couldn't shake her.  She said the same thing over and over and over.  As she walked away, she buttonholed passers by to tell them what we'd done.  We moved on.

Michelle decided that we were going to stay in the municipal albergue.  We got there a half hour before opening time, so we sat on the sidewalk and waited.  She snapped this photo while we sat.  (Aqualung or Mr. French?)

Here it bears explaining: albergues are cheap lodging for one night.  They can be one step above a shelter.  They kick everyone out at eight in the morning and then clean the place.  They don't open their doors until the afternoon, and admission is on a first come first served basis.  Come ten PM, they lock the doors.  No monkey business--you just got a room for as little as five euros.

Did I say room?  I meant bunk bed.  Sometimes, you get sheets.  Usually, they're disposable.

This albergue was an experience.  I hadn't taken a communal shower since high school.  Michelle had never taken one.  The WiFi was useless, so I couldn't upload pictures or write this blog.

Michelle went out with the girls, and I wandered around town looking for a spot to have dinner and an ATM machine.  On the way back, I ran into Bart and we went to a nice looking courtyard cafe I'd seen for a glass of wine.  As we sat there, the girls walked by and saw us.  The town is that small.

Bart and I kept searching for a half way decent place to eat and walked into the back of a restaurant near the albergue.  There we met Robert from Ireland sitting with a German couple.  This was Robert's fourth Camino.  He has scallop shells tattooed on each calf.  He's very funny.  Everything's "fooking"  this and "fooking" that.

The first words he said to me "So, you're the American..."

There's not much else to tell about Caldas de Reis.  Tomorrow, we've decided not to stay in Padron but to spend the night in a Franciscan monastery about three kilometers off the Camino in Herbon.  What are the chances they have WiFi?