24/06/22 Thursday
The disappointment of the Sarria Staircase was overcome by the wonderful evening meal. We had a good night's sleep, and left early the next day at 0614.

And it was raining. Not really badly. But it was the type of rain that would hang around for ages - and it did.

We had to walk back up through town and past where we saw the Holy Goat. It was fairly obvious who was a new Pilgrim and who wasn't.

I'll get the bridge shot in early. This bridge was built on the site of an old Roman bridge.

You can get an idea of the weather from this picture. When it wasn't raining, it was overcast.

This was a nice fountain we found on the way.

Ruth couldn't remember much of the route - it was several years ago. If you look closely at the glow in the centre, you can see the sun rising.

We had started seeing these kind of structures in the countryside in Galicia. Ruth says that they are grain stores. Above the base is a stone or concrete lip that prevents rats or mice climbing over and into the store. The earliest designs used wooden vertical slats with gaps. The later designs used these ventilated bricks. But they seem too small to store much inside. I think they may just be for the family to store their own food safely. The structures can be very ornate. The earliest designs seemed to have stone ends, later ones used cast concrete.

I love the design of this farm gate, simple but great to look at.

This is another example of the sunken pathways on this Pilgrim route. If you look on the right hand side, you can see how far down the pathway has been worn.

If you look at the tops of the tree trunks, you'll get an idea of how old the trees were when they were pollarded (top branches all removed, leaving the trunk and branch stumps).

In Galicia, it is common to see small churches or chapels by the roadside, rather than large, ornate churches.

There will often be just an alter, with no pews.

This is a church with the graveyard attached. This is common in Galicia. In Castilla y León, which We walked through earlier, the graveyard is always out of the village or town, with the church being in the centre of the town or village. In both places, the graves or family vaults are very ornate.

This is a family vault in the graveyard above.

Only 100k to go.

In small villages here, you sometimes get vending machines. This location also provides a stamp for your Pilgrim Credencial or passport with a 'Vending 100k' stamp.


This is a hoopoe. Seldom gets to the UK. Ruth spotted it and it made her day.

We were looking for a bar so Ruth could go to the loo. We found a 'Donativo' instead. Give a donation, if you can, and take what you need. Ruth chose the loo and a jam filled pancake. I chose a hard boiled egg, which was extremely difficult to peel. Ruth got the best deal.
Three examples of drystone walling. The first is a bit of a bodge. The second has two steps built into the wall. The third has flat vertical slabs placed into the wall, presumably so it can be built faster. The problem comes when they fall over, taking a chunk of wall with them.

This is an example of the wooden slatted grain store. My guess is that it's not in use as there is ivy bridging one end, that would allow rats or mice to get above the stone platform.
This was late in the journey to Portomarin. This is part of the historical Pilgrim's route. There is an easier route now. We chose the historical route. You can see how old it is by the wear on the rocks from boots and rain cutting their way down. It was 'fun' climbing down it but probably not much fun in heavy rain.
These pictures show the current bridge, plus an older one below. I have no idea why the Liberty Bell is there.
As you can see in the pics, they've lost a few bridges in the past. Also flooding has removed many buildings from the river banks.

These are the steps going up into Portomarin. If you look closely you will see me halfway up on the right.

The rain was tipping down so we found the only bar open and waited out the rain with few drinks and a bocadillo.

Then we had to find our room, sort the washing out, and have a siesta. After that it was out for an evening meal. Ruth had lentil soup and what was called chicken stew but was really boiled chicken pieces, deep fried, which tasted great. I had caldo gallego (potato and cabbage soup) and merluza or hake which was good. Ruth got the best deal.
Random pictures from the day.
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