Day 25
REDONDELA TO PONTEVEDRA Three days and less than 70km to go before we will be standing in front of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela at the end of our epic Trekkin4Trees journey. We are starting to feel really emotional now that the days and Kilometers are dwindling so fast !! To say it’s been special would not do justice to what a worthwhile cause this has been, and we are humbled by the outpouring of support and donations received so far. 70% of target reached! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get to 100% by the time we get to Santiago? Today we joined the ant trail of pilgrims. All the southern route options converge at Redondela and march on in one mass, excuse the pun, to Pontevedra. It was a day of connections and reconnections, as old friends and new meet and conversations are shared. Plus a song or two by 3 delightful and feisty Spanish Signoras- See video😊 Time spent on the road is very special as the pace you travel at allows you to absorb everything and nothing at the same time. Hard and “soft(er)“ roads, up hills and down. Today seemed to drift by as stories were shared with other pilgrims and moments of silence were cherished due to the “crowds“ Pontevedra, what a beautiful town, what history. A truly remarkable and lovely place. It’s a welcome rekindling of our love for the Spanish culture and architecture, as the last 2 towns had seriously dented that !😂 Luckily today was a shorter 16 km walk which allowed us to step out into the town after our usual bath, laundry and other duties and spend some time absorbing the sights, Edmund even managing to have a quick haircut at a local barber! The historical quarter where our hotel is situated oozes class and history down to the brass buttons inserted into the pavements. A delicious vegan meal and ice-cream finished our day off perfectly. This one is a definite keeper and we will be back !!! Tres días y la emoción se monta 😊💚
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tDay 24
CASTRELOS, VIGO to CESANTES, REDONDELA Leaving our hotel this morning we were greeted by wet roads and drizzle. The town of Castrelos was a largely uninspiring high rise/apartments town, and we were happy that we were directed through the lovely Park Castrelos, to a green belt which took us a fair distance through the city, which minimized the last bit of road walking. Nevertheless, both of us felt fatigued after a restless night, and were glad and relieved that after a fairly steep climb, we were led up above the city. We traversed for around 20 Km’s on dust roads along the forest ridges until we descended steeply on tar roads for around 25 min into Redondela town. Redondela is the town where the Central route and the Coastal route meet up again, and is therefore a town buzzing with pilgrims and the start of the huge increase of traffic to Santiago. A catch up with other pilgrims whom we have met somewhere along the way at the town Centre over lunch allowed us to rest our weary feet and simply take the load off for an hour. As our prior decision was to find accommodation 5 km further along the route, we waved goodbye and made our way along the busy highway to our hotel looking, once again over the railway line and the beautiful Vigo River estuary. We are now into Stage 3, the final stage of our Camino, 80 odd kms to Santiago, 4 days to go! Feet up early for us tonight. |