Day 29, Oct 9,2017, Sarria to Portomarin, 14.5 miles
We had gone out exploring Sarria that evening. We walked to the old town and the church. We also walked up to the old tower. It used to be a military base and palace in the old days, but all that's left is a crumbling tower now. The thing that really got us was the 62 step climb up to the church area and of course, the climb back down!!!
The church of San Marina was a pretty church, very simple and well lit.
We got a stamp on our passports and were told by the lady in charge that we needed to get 2 per day from now on to actually get our compostela!!! Yikes! That's because to qualify to get the Compostela certificate you need to walk the last 100 kms or bike the last 200 kms. We walked around a little more and then had a beer and went back to the hotel to read and rest.
We left around 8:15 a.m. to head out to Portomarin. We had to walk back up the 62 steps to get out of town. We faced quite a climb right away. It was very foggy and lovely. We also have been seeing a lot of interesting structures that we thought had some religious significance but they have turned out to be for corn storage.
Also, v cold. The fog didn't clear for nearly 3 hours. It was a very wet fog that kept us cold for a while. It did make it easier to walk because we were motivated to move quite fast. We kept hitting small villages along the way but didn't stop until we got to Mercadoiro to get our coffee. We realized that a lot of people join the Camino at Sarria when we had to go through hordes of people before finding the quiet that we'd taken for granted until today. It felt more like we were at a protest march than a pilgrimage! :-)
We continued on at a steady pace passing through lovely towns with beautiful gardens, fruit laden trees, pine and oak forests filled with birds, and meadows full of contented cows. We were also keeping an eye out for the 100 km marker.
We saw the marker after we passed Mercadoiro and were thrilled. Then a short while later we saw another 100 km. marker. We realized people had just randomly written 100 km. on a bunch of these markers. Finally we saw the real one on which the number had been etched. Of course we got a pic of it and continued on.
Just about a couple of kms. before we got to Portomarin, we realized we had a choice of three routes. We decided to take the one that everyone else avoided and soon discovered why. It was incredibly steep, probaby around 18% gradient for a km! We then joined the main road and had to cross a long high bridge into Portomarin.
This town was moved to its current spot because they dammed a river and this meant that the town would be under water. They moved the church of St. Nicholas stone by stone to the new location. You can see the ruins of the old town when you walk on the bridge to the new town. We got to the town and saw that you had to climb a whole bunch of stairs.
Luckily we saw a map that showed us our hotel location bypassed the stairs!!! We got to our hotel, Pousada de Portomarin, which was close to the church of San Nicolas. It was a nice place with a sitting room and a lot of space.
We had a beer on the terrace of the hotel with two other Americans, Rose from the Seattle area and her cousin Laurie, from Central Florida. We walked over to the church
to get a stamp (the first stamp we got at a cafe earlier in the day) and just explore the town. It was a cute little place. The church was a large Romanesque building that looked different from other churches. The man who was doing the stamping stamped Lisa's passport upside down. This is the third stamp that was done the wrong side up!!! We walked around the shops and went back for dinner and bed.
The church of San Marina was a pretty church, very simple and well lit.
We got a stamp on our passports and were told by the lady in charge that we needed to get 2 per day from now on to actually get our compostela!!! Yikes! That's because to qualify to get the Compostela certificate you need to walk the last 100 kms or bike the last 200 kms. We walked around a little more and then had a beer and went back to the hotel to read and rest.
We left around 8:15 a.m. to head out to Portomarin. We had to walk back up the 62 steps to get out of town. We faced quite a climb right away. It was very foggy and lovely. We also have been seeing a lot of interesting structures that we thought had some religious significance but they have turned out to be for corn storage.
Also, v cold. The fog didn't clear for nearly 3 hours. It was a very wet fog that kept us cold for a while. It did make it easier to walk because we were motivated to move quite fast. We kept hitting small villages along the way but didn't stop until we got to Mercadoiro to get our coffee. We realized that a lot of people join the Camino at Sarria when we had to go through hordes of people before finding the quiet that we'd taken for granted until today. It felt more like we were at a protest march than a pilgrimage! :-)
We continued on at a steady pace passing through lovely towns with beautiful gardens, fruit laden trees, pine and oak forests filled with birds, and meadows full of contented cows. We were also keeping an eye out for the 100 km marker.
We saw the marker after we passed Mercadoiro and were thrilled. Then a short while later we saw another 100 km. marker. We realized people had just randomly written 100 km. on a bunch of these markers. Finally we saw the real one on which the number had been etched. Of course we got a pic of it and continued on.
Just about a couple of kms. before we got to Portomarin, we realized we had a choice of three routes. We decided to take the one that everyone else avoided and soon discovered why. It was incredibly steep, probaby around 18% gradient for a km! We then joined the main road and had to cross a long high bridge into Portomarin.
This town was moved to its current spot because they dammed a river and this meant that the town would be under water. They moved the church of St. Nicholas stone by stone to the new location. You can see the ruins of the old town when you walk on the bridge to the new town. We got to the town and saw that you had to climb a whole bunch of stairs.
Luckily we saw a map that showed us our hotel location bypassed the stairs!!! We got to our hotel, Pousada de Portomarin, which was close to the church of San Nicolas. It was a nice place with a sitting room and a lot of space.
We had a beer on the terrace of the hotel with two other Americans, Rose from the Seattle area and her cousin Laurie, from Central Florida. We walked over to the church
to get a stamp (the first stamp we got at a cafe earlier in the day) and just explore the town. It was a cute little place. The church was a large Romanesque building that looked different from other churches. The man who was doing the stamping stamped Lisa's passport upside down. This is the third stamp that was done the wrong side up!!! We walked around the shops and went back for dinner and bed.
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