Day 33 – A Picaraña

Today, our pilgrimage was mostly on water.

Legend has it that St. James’ bones were moved to Spain in a boat that traveled up a river and landed near Padron, Spain. It has become a tradition for pilgrims doing the “Spiritual Variant” of the Camino, to take a boat up the same river as part of their pilgrimage.

So, to keep with the tradition, at about 8:00AM, we joined about 150 other pilgrims on on a boat that took us to Padron. The ride was easy and enjoyable, and even festive at times.

Once we reached land, we walked about 7 miles to a lovely hotel. It was a very easy and very enjoyable day.

All aboard!
We passed hundreds of mussel farming platforms along the way.
17 crosses mark the route much like the yellow arrows do on land.
A small old fort is still standing
One of the towns on the river.
Our boat.

Today’s Walk

It was short but pleasant. Much of it was through the city of Padron then through some small villages. Several churches were open which was a nice treat.

Padron church.
Rory’s trail name is “Donkey.” So here’s Donkey with a donkey.
Karen says “hi” to every single cyclist. When 30 cyclists came by together, she almost passed out from exhaustion trying to greet them all.
Cyrene as we walked through a village.
The gang.
A church along the walk.
Rory & Beth.
One of my trail names is “Princess”since I like luxury. It took a while to perfectly align the crown on my head with the sign behind me.

Casa Raul Vella de Rivera

Rory, Tess and I are at a really cool countryside hotel tonight. It’s a beautiful building with lovely rooms, but the best part was dinner. The owners cook a multi-course meal. It was amazing.

I can’t remember everything we had, but I know several of you are foodies, so I tried to include as many pictures of dinner as possible. There was so much it was hard to remember everything.

We were joined for this feast by five other pilgrims from Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium.

My room.
One of the nice outdoor sitting areas here.
There are several nice living spaces around the hotel.
The initial dinner set-up. The owners kept bringing out more and more!
Salad, local cheeses and salad wraps with tasty stuffings.
Vietnamese rolls and something with mussel sauce on it.
Padron peppers.
Toast with tomato, zucchini and more.
Asparagus wrapped in some type of ham.
Stuffed dumplings.

Tomorrow

If I can still walk after that big dinner, I’ll arrive in Santiago tommorow. Its a hilly but relatively short walk (10 miles). We have planned a fancy lunch at the Santiago Parador (5 star hotel) to celebrate.

4 thoughts on “Day 33 – A Picaraña”

  2. Bill I really enjoy reading your blog as they are full of interesting details with lots of humor. I’m enjoying the pictures and thanks for the captions. I know it takes time, but you’ll appreciate them also when you look back on your blog. Keep enjoying this amazing experience, especially with friends!

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