El Camino – Day 3 (Pontedeume to Betanzos)

by marjasisu, posted in Reflections

And on Day 3, tears. Not from pain, but release from it. Not the physical kind, but the emotional kind. And it was good. El Camino doing its work, as they say.

Some physical discomfort, too, on this longest daily walk so far, but that was expected; 13 miles on Camino Ingles today, with lots of hills. I marvel at those who do 15 or more miles every day for a month. But we’re doing great for, um, “our age.” (Feels weird to say that, as Ginny and I haven’t felt “our age” since…?!) I also reflected today on my MBTI personality, and how it shows up here. More on that later. For now, the travelogue continues from our fabulous walk through the Spanish province of Galicia.

Last night’s lodging came with breakfast, which was unusual and an extra delight after staying in an old home renovated to expose original beams and rock.
Knowing that today was Sunday so most places would be closed, I picked up some food at a nearby grocery store. Ginny asked for bananas.  They were green. We ripened them on the heater overnight…a little too much, it turns out! šŸ˜„ She ate hers anyway. I didn’t.
We started climbing right away…steps first…and immediately encountered…
…Saint Francis. Even though I’m not Catholic, I “know” him pretty well — mostly for his poem “Make me an instrument of your peace.” It has been turned into several lovely versions of  song and has calmed and inspired me during the troubled time in our country.
Right after the saint, we passed this evidence of…well, free speech. (Spain is a democracy now, though a different type than ours.) Which isn’t always peaceful, though thank goodness doesn’t usually extend to violence.
And then we started climbing. And climbing. Up into the sunshine.
At the top of our first hill, this lovely surprise. A rainbow!
We passed odd juxtapositions of the old and the new…
… and then the really old.
… and then passed from towns into forest, still mostly on pavement.
The morning sun lit up the first indications of autumn…
…
… and the leaves of these grape vines as we passed under them.
And then, more indications of free speech. The political tension in our country is evident in others as well. U.S. news is on the TVs here and it’s clear that we export more than culture.
After that disheartening graffiti, it was nice to come across this little roadside “shop” — mainly small jewelry using the ubiquitous shell. Honor system.
More climbing, this time on a dirt path. (Ginny’s jacket is thrown over her backpack here. Jackets were off and on all day as we sweat while climbing.)
We saw more fellow pilgrims today than before, such as at this intersection.
This group passed us a few times, as one or the other of us stopped for a break.
Evidence of former pilgrims was often left in the form of groups of rocks or other memorabilia left behind.
We also saw joggers, often with dogs. The Camino trail intersects with well-used recreational trails in places.
And of course, we saw cats…mostly free roaming, though this guy wasn’t.
And the sun kept shining!
Though it was chilly enough to wear a light jacket when not climbing.
This small town reminded me of the town on Mount Etna, in Sicily, where I lived for two years.
There, we encountered an artist painting a mural and being interviewed by a TV crew.
We passed over several small bridges today…
… including this old stone one, which may have been Roman. The stone marker on the other side tells us which way to turn.
We stopped for coffee and a snack at this rough but charming roadside cafe with plastic chairs outside, typical elsewhere on El Camino but the first we’ve encountered. The next several pics are from here. Don’t miss the toilet signs!
We passed a few trailside murals…
… and a statue of a pig and cross. (Nope, I don’t know what it’s about, and kissed it just for fun. Stupid tourist thing.)
… and this odd walkway that looks wavy but actually was smooth underfoot.
And more evidence of “old,” in both stone…
… and wood.
When we stopped for late lunch, this sign caught our eye. Saint Urho is a made-up Finnish saint, a spoof on Saint Patrick. This isn’t him, but pretty close!
I ordered a hamburger. Here in Spain, it’s quite literally a big hunk of ham. On a bun. Makes sense! (So why do we call our beef patty a ham-burger? Hmm.)
On top of yet another hill, this roadside “food truck” for pilgrims was closed…
…but the pile of rocks and shells left there by previous pilgrims fed our imagination if not our bellies.
As the trail started to descend again, we saw some vistas like this…
… and our first horses…
… and one of those roaming cats.
Near our destination, this church looks truly ancient and I wanted to go in for a quiet prayer but it was closed.
Crossing a bridge into Betanzos, Ginny still looks fresh. And nowhere near 79! I’m so proud of her. (But we were all definitely ready to stop by this time.)
My favorite picture of my big sis. I’m grateful she let me jump into this trip.
This map, from the app “Buen Camino,” shows our route today.Ā  When I am out of sight of others, I use this to confirm that I’m still on the yellow route.

5 thoughts on “El Camino – Day 3 (Pontedeume to Betanzos)”

  3. Thanks for sharing your pilgrimage. Also, the cross/pig statue is medieval antisemitic, maybe not want to show affection to it. Just trying to be helpful!

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