Day 33 - Portomarin to Palais de Rei - 15.1 miles

I was raring to go this morning after a full day off!! I scheduled my trip and thought I would need at least 2 rest days (as the people in all the books I read took rest days) to let my body relax/heal and do proper laundry at a laundromat. I had to book them way back then not knowing I wouldn't need them or want them. Someone I was talking to today said they like staying in the "off towns" because they want to completely relax in the afternoons as there is nothing else to do there. They also like not being where most of the pilgrims are. I personally like to sightsee, and I immediately go out after my shower to tour the town. I like visiting museums and historical buildings and churches. I enjoy learning things about all these wonderful places I am walking through. However, I am not good at just "relaxing"

This morning I left with my headlamp along with other pilgrims at 7am. I have found that when I have climbing mountains first thing in the morning, I feel much better if I just start hiking and wait till about 9 or 10 to eat a breakfast. If I walk with people I know, we usually stop about that time for a coffee and bathroom break anyway. Now we need two stamps a day in our Pilgrim Passport (from Sarria to Santiago), so stopping at a cafe is important anyway. Mine is almost full but I have another just in case.

Pilgrim Passport side 2

This morning was very foggy, which is always weird when you have a headlamp on. You can see the mist in the light and you have to stay super vigilant because you can't see nearly

as far or as clearly. At one point the trail took a sharp left and the person way in front of me obviously missed it. I almost followed him!! He was so far out, I couldn't call him to come back! I wondered when he would discover he was no longer on the trail. Anyway, the first part of the walk was through what looked like abandoned warehouses, etc. and then we continued on through farmland and woods. There was an absolutely massive diary farm on the top of one hill. It included 6 gigantic barns just for the cows! Finally, the sun started to rise, and we could see the floating islands of clouds below. What a beautiful picture.

The walk continued much the same throughout the day, crossing through wooded paths and then out more parallel to the road. I arrived in Palais de Rei about 11:50am. I went immediately to the grocery because my accommodation tonight was about 6 miles outside of town. I also wanted to get lunch. Several of my friends have been booked at out-of-the-way places that have absolutely no food offered and no place nearby to get it! If you didn't have your own, you were hungry. So, my instructions were to call the owners, and they would send for a taxi to pick me up. I did call and she spoke English, and told me a taxi would be there in about 20-30 minutes. I also asked about the availability of dinner or lunch at the hotel. She said they would be serving dinner at 7pm, but I would probably need a snack before I got the taxi. So I sat there and had some of my fruit and nuts. There was no restaurant open at all and all the bars were not serving any food either.

Palais de Rei

As promised, the taxi arrived and I was on my way. I had no injuries of any kind walking but the taxi driver almost killed me by coming head-on with another vehicle on the road. He was going extremely fast around curves he couldn't see, so I just closed my eyes. The inn is absolutely beautiful!!! It is by far the best accommodation I have stayed in on this trip. The couple is German and just took it over 3 weeks ago. They offered a delicious dinner with Cream of Pumpkin Soup, Steak with fries and peppers, and chocolate brownie with ice cream for dessert! (Those were the things I chose anyway!). They had so many wonderful special touches including wine before dinner in the library, a chimichurri sauce with the steak, and little dishes of sea salt and condiments on the table. They were constantly checking on your comfort and it was so refreshing.

I don't have many photos today as Palais de Rei was fairly unremarkable. This rose caught my eye as I walked by a home near town though.

Tomorrow is my last night on my own. It will be an 18-mile day into Arzua, and then I will see Robert on Thursday!!!