Camino de Santiago, dia 12

 October 4th we are walking along the final portion of all the southern camino routes, so there's a constant stream of pilgrims. 

There is also a variety of pathways, mostly well-flattened and cared for, with few services along the way, quite out of normal highways.  In the photo I am pointing out the sign indicating that this route follows the old Roman road-- Via Romana XIX.

We often passed, or were passed by, the same sets of pilgrims.  The few cafés along the way were crowded, especially because it rained lightly the entire day.  But we did find respite with some typical Spanish egg&potato torta.

We walked through Pontecesures, the Roman port at the uppermost navigable portion of the river, where the body of St.James reportedly arrived by boat. 

One alternate "spiritual” route for the Camino involves a boatride up the river to retrace those hallowed ways.   We walked into Padrón with its chemical factories, and several old abandoned factory buildings.  We walked north to Iria Flavia, the seat of the bishop who originally started the Santiago pilgrimage (he certified the miraculous location at Santiago).  

At Padrón I had neglected to book a room early on, so the only one I could find was a standard albergue with 6 beds in a room.  Oh well, I would get to experience a more typical pilgrim bed.  Cruces de Iria had a very pleasant and talkative proprietor who encouraged me to practice speaking Portuguese.  Most of the other guests were young Germans.  Again, that evening's search for dinner proved difficult–the recommended restaurant O Grilo was only 100 meters away; I walked there early, and found it closed, with no explanation (My proprietor later explained that O Grilo serves the factory workers all weekdays, and closes on Saturdays!).  I msg'd the group, indicated that I would seek alternatives down the road.  I finally found one much farther away, and we all enjoyed a pub dinner there.  It seems our major difficulty several times on the pilgrimage was finding a nearby restaurant for dinner!

My bedroom was in a large attic room with six beds widely spaced, with a small partition between each, along with a small bedside lamp – actually quite comfortable.  Fortunately the room was quiet and was not too warm; ironically, though, a noisy fan or a/c would have helped to mask the noise in the reverberant attic–occasional snoring or walking woke me, and I worried about the noise I caused in my midnight trip to the bathroom downstairs!