Ah those hills!
This was a hilly day. A very hilly day. The day did not start well because I slept so poorly. After the previous day’s rain which gave me the nasty blisters, my feet were very sore.
To add to my woes, the hotel in Portomarin was the only one that I’d consider 1 star. It had very basic and clean accommodations which included a hard bed and a shared bathroom. Not my first choice for a hotel, but there was nothing else available when I booked it. I woke up before dawn and got ready to leave. I was pleasantly surprised that my shoes were dry even after the previous day’s torrential downpour. It was then I realized how useful the little silica packs were. I had stuffed my shoes with newspaper and 2 silica packs each. That did the trick. They were perfectly dry as was my backpack where I had stuffed the other silica packs. After packing up, I headed out for an early breakfast and hit the road. The rain, which had let up the day before, was back this morning. But, this time it wasn’t going to stop me from walking.
The walk itself was harder because of the hills and the distance – 24 kms. Part of the path went along the highway, which I didn’t like. It wasn’t dangerous or anything like that, but it wasn’t too scenic either. My blisters continued to hurt, but I ignored them. I wasn’t worried about infection because they were well protected thanks to the podiatrist in Portomarin.
I left Portomarin at 8 am and arrived in Palas de Rei at 4 pm. It was a long day. By the time I arrived, I was completely wiped out. This surprised me since I’m in fairly good shape. Maybe it was the combination of the rain (it rained at the start and the end of the day; about 3 hours in total) and the blisters. When I arrived in Palas de Rei, I called the hotel so they could come pick me up since they weren’t directly on the Camino. Casa Blanco was the best accommodations I had on the Camino. Like my first night’s accommodation, it was a “turismo rural” hotel. These are old houses (very old houses, many over 200 years old!) that have been converted to hotels.
It’s the little things that count
Maria, the hotel manager, was very sweet and helpful. She even did my laundry, which was such a treat after two days of rain. My exhaustion got the best of me and I had a not so little siesta. I woke up at 8:30 pm. Dinner would be over at 9 pm, so I hustled down to the beautiful dining room. Oh, what a yummy meal! I started with a creamed veggie soup and then had a burger. I normally don’t eat burgers in Europe because they’re not European, but Maria said it was worth trying so I did. I was not disappointed. It was so yummy!
Helping out a fellow pilgrim
When I arrived at dinner there were some Australian and French ladies and an American gentleman. Once again, I had a great time chatting with my fellow Camino walkers. The American said he was there with his wife, but that she couldn’t make it to dinner because she had some work to do and her blisters were really bad. It turned out that his wife, the lovely Mirna was Brazilian. Immediate connection since I was born in Brazil. I offered to help her by giving her whatever blister meds I had. After dinner, I went to their room with gauze, alcohol pads, antibiotic cream, blister packs and whatever else I had on hand. Poor Mirna. She had a huge blister between her large toe and her second toe. It looked so painful; I knew how she felt. We set about disinfecting her foot and bandaging the blister. I didn’t see them at breakfast the next day, so I left them a little note wishing them the best and giving them the name of a hotel in Porto, where they were headed once they finished the Camino.
Since the hotel was not on the actual Camino, Maria gave me the option of starting at the point closer to the hotel or going back to Palas de Rei. Going back would add 6 kms to my day. Ah, let me see… no thanks! So, I saved myself some kms. Hopefully, this would help my tired, blistered feet heal a little quicker.
