Day: April 20, 2025

I included a similar photo in a previous year’s blog. We pay almost everything with cards on this trip and I’m glad to see the church keeping up with the times. But I am including this photo because of the photo I did not take and so cannot show. After I took this I looked to the right and saw a “No photos” sign. I was tempted to take a photo of it but I like to respect rules like that, their church, their rules, only fair. I wouldn’t have taken the first photo if I had seen the sign.

This seems to me like a really good idea for a little shop. I wonder if it is a chain?

The graffiti people did a number on this sign. We were noting that Spanish stop signs are in English. Is this an international word like taxi and hotel? Also the Spanish stop signs seem slightly different than American ones but I can’t put my finger on exactly what is different.

Found in the common room of our hotel in Pontevedra.

We have talked about, okay complained about, the rain in this blog but we have seen blue skies as well. It stopped raining in early evening and we were able to go out for a walk without raincoats. There were lots of others out walking, too. Somehow that doesn’t show up in these photos.

I’m posting this partly because I like the photo (Charlie’s iPhone). But, with all the rain, we’ve noticed the streams seem very full. In one bridge crossing, the water was almost touching the bridge. And, this morning, we came across this (photo above). No avoiding getting our shoes wet. But, luckily the water wasn’t too deep and didn’t go inside our shoes and the waterproofing actually worked.

I was about half way through it and five bicycles started through and went around me. I basically had to freeze. I’ll just say this: Walking pilgrims and biking pilgrims have an uneasy relationship.

• Camino walking: Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis, 7.0 miles in 4:06, moving 2:49
• Note on walking versus moving: our app, wikiloc, automatically keeps track of pauses. I walk a little faster than Wynette so when I get 50-100 feet ahead I stop and wait for her. Wikiloc records this as a pause. So the moving is my moving. Wynette is probably moving more than that. The pauses also count coffee stops.
• Elevation: up 68 feet and down 233 feet, a pretty flat day.
• We didn’t do pack transfer today because our destination was an apartment with no one to receive it. But it was fine, only seven miles and pretty flat. And Wynette graciously carried some of the weight I usually carry. And no Japanese liqueurs. And we ate all the granola and fruit for breakfast so didn’t have to carry it.
• We were walking along the trail and we came upon this large tree across the trail with no easy way to get around (see photo). It must have just fallen since this was the central Portuguese Camino with hundreds of pilgrims passing through. We managed to get over it, despite our advanced age. We had gone maybe 200 feet and we heard a truck pull up, looked back and saw two more pilgrims climbing over it. A minute later we heard the chain saw start up. I’m sure they made quick work of it. We saw this same pair of pilgrims several more times during the rest of the walk, at each coffee place we stopped at.
• And one of those coffee places was a real gem, the Oasis Cafe. It was in a private home right along the path. It looked like they had converted, and expanded the garage. Run by a family, we were served by the grandson. We had coffee, of course, and a Spanish tortilla, which was excellent, clearly home made. It was so good we had the raisin cake, also excellent, clearly some grandmother was involved. We saw an older woman and her husband was clearing dishes. Wynette asked the guy about it and he said yes it was his abuelo. Wait a minute, abeulo not abuela? Yes, the old guy clearing dishes made the heavenly tortilla and raisin cake. Never assume.
• We are in a spacious apartment tonight, we each have our own room!
• And we had a really good Easter lunch, especially the salad.
• Some off and on rain but generally a very good day.

My grandmother used to make a really good raisin pie that she called “Larkin Pie”, I think because she got the recipe from a friend named Mrs. Larkin. (Mom, you’ll have to tell me if I’m remembering this wrong.) Well, I had some raisin pie today and it reminded me of my grandmother’s pie.

We are back walking on the Camino. Not a long walk today but we stopped at two different places (the only two places to stop between Pontevedra, where we started, and Caldas de Reis, where we stopped). They were both neat places.

The first was the one that had the raisin pie (pastel de uvas pasas.) It really was good and the raisins were huge.

We both ordered a coffee and I asked for a tortilla (Spanish omelette) with bread. The young man behind the counter told me to grab a plate and help myself. It was delicious. Later I happened to notice the raisin pie. After eating the tortilla, I wasn’t hungry but I knew if I didn’t try the pie I would never get over regretting not trying it. (It’s the only one I’ve ever seen on the Camino.) So glad I did.

I loved the bar. It was in the converted garage of someone’s house on the Camino. Clearly family-run. We spotted an older women in the kitchen and Charlie said “I’m sure she’s the cook and she’s probably his grandmother.” When we paid, I told the young man “muy rico” which is what you say to say the food was very delicious. He lit up. I asked him who was the cook. He said “mi abuelo” (my grandfather). I did a double take. Surely I had misheard him. But he verified, yes, his grandfather.

The pie and the tortilla only cost 2.50 each.