The rain in Spain ….

fell mainly on Kathleen and Jane today, Dear Reader! I will not lie to you , today has been a tough one ! Our glasses are always half full but today there have been times when they were half empty 🥴🥴- but you know us the bottle is never far away and the glass easily refilled!

Let me start at the beginning of the day ( when I was waking up before going to sleep if you remember 🤪) – we went to Mass at the Cathedral …..

Last time we were here they were cleaning and repairing the alter – it was surrounded by scaffold and we didn’t see any of it . So to see it today in all its splendour was very special .

We set off at about 9.30 to do the 13.3 miles ahead of us – both of us dreading the 2.8 km climb towards the end of this section . No matter, the whole walk was hills and mountains – what goes up has to come down , but some of those hills were killers …. true to the guide book though the 2.8 km climb required preparation ( Woops the 6 P’s had clearly not been considered for this ) it would have stretched Chris Bonnington, I feel sure !

I can’t tell you how many paths like this we have traversed today – and sadly can never do the beautiful smell of eucalyptus and pine justice . As far as I’m aware there is no app for smellyvision on this phone – please take it from me it is stunning!

In previous blogs I have discussed the Health and Safety in Spain – and I suppose it is refreshing to see nothing has changed . Here is clearly a sign suggesting falling rocks yet no requirements for hard hats … or better still , a complete detour to avoid any hazardous material falling on our unprotected heads . However I am pleased to inform you , we passed by uneventfully , and continued on our long and very wet journey!

Bridges have featured strongly in previous blogs from our last Camino – in fact a similar bridge ( Willow Bridge) features on my blog page – so these are two we have seen today both stunning in their own way , the latter we crossed ( in the valley after the mammoth climb )

Now I cannot write this without mentioning the toilet saga ! There are far fewer bars/cafes on this route and therefore toilet facilities. We had been warned that the forest was the place to go ….. however I can report back that there was no need ! When we started off it was quite humid so we sweated excess fluid and fortunately ( even though four hours had passed) we came across a bar …. well loosely described as a bar , it was dark , had 6 tables with chairs in a space where two tables and chairs would have looked cramped , there were birds in a large cage, lots of bird seed in a terrarium and a bacon slicer of all things . Cleaning implements were in every nook and cranny but goodness knows when they had last been used but at least it had a loo … bijoux to say the least , getting in and out was an art… but it served a purpose ! So the shewee and forest have still not met !

So Dear Reader to tomorrow- if either of us are spared that is – Kathleen has done a yoga stretching programme for sore muscles I think I’m going to cheat and take an Ibuprofen 🤪- if I got down on the floor that is where I would remain I feel sure . Tomorrow we walk from Negreira to Maxaricos – shorter than today ( by 0.2 km🙈🙈)

Oh deep joy – what will be doing for the first 11 km ?- going up hills , climbing …. I’ll be returning with a Kardashian backside at this rate !

So until tomorrow Dear Reader we bid you farewell !