Friday, November 12, 2010

On the Camino Santiago, Day 2: Portomarin to Palais de Rei

We began our second day with an ascent out of Portomarin. And, it seemed, a long walk to the first place where we could take our breakfast break. (Probably, we should have eaten more before leaving for the day...) A breakfast of tortilla (which, in Galicia, is something like a omelet sandwich) and juice, we were much happier... The cafes along the Camino are filled up with pilgrims. While we're walking, we spread out, but collect together at these rest stops. It's fun to get an idea of the many, diverse people who are walking with us.
We stopped for a little rest break by this marker, which told us we had just over 78 km to go...
Then, later, we stopped here, at one of the many stone crosses that mark the Camino.
All along the way, we admired the beautiful kitchen gardens that belonged to those who live alongside the Camino. Also, they had chickens.
Toward the end of the day, we stopped to fill our water bottles here, an another ancient fuente, this one staffed with volunteers from the Spanish equivalent of Campus Crusade for Christ. Their hospitality was lovely, and the water refreshing...

We stopped for the nice in Palais de Rei, where we found a brand-new albergue that looked to be more than adequate. (We were tired.) Having put our bags down and showered, we headed further into town to find some fruit and ice cream. In the church there, we got a stamp for our credentials--the kind man in the church who offered the stamps was from Alcala, home of the San Diego who is namesake for our hometown. We delighted in our strange kinship...

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