We were truly ripped off for two cold cokes by a wiley local but when we asked him about the vines he got a bottle out and charged our mugs with tinto. He regaled us with stories of how he´d exhibited at various wine fairs all over Europe. A real character.
Villafranca is a nice place with tons of old buildings but we were so tired we stayed on the same side of the bridge as our albergue, had a meal then a brandy in a little bar overlooking the ancient bridge and watching the house martins.
We knew the climb to the Alto de Poyo, the last major ascent before Santiago, would be tough so we decided to book a hotel about 2.5km before the top and spread the climb over two days. The climb takes you into Gallicia, the last province on the Camino and we struck lucky in our choice. The views from our albergue were wonderful, a bit like parts of north Wales. Gallician music (a bit like Breton music-You tube Alain Stivell for a listen) was playing out of the bar and the sun was shining. We sat drinking tinto and watching the pilgrims compete for space with the village cows-celtic heaven on earth. Best day on the Camino.
The next day we walked up to the summit from where the views are spectacular.
After a steep descent the camino makes its way through Gallician country lanes much like you´d see in Devon (but with little stone bridges over the streams).
I wasn´t expecting much from Portomarin as it´s a new town; the old one having been "drowned" by a reservoir. How wrong could I be? They´d moved a lot of the old buildings up to the new town and it was brilliant. The day we arrived there a band was playing Gallician music and a there was a
We´re not that far from Santiago now but have a few heavy days of walking to get within 10km for the walk into town on 20th. So looking forward to seeing Jill on 21st. One more blog when I get to Santiago.
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