Pontevedra Rest Day

It's nice to stay in one place for an extra day. Even though I hand wash my clothes every afternoon, having the time to use a laundromat is such a sweet luxury.

After laundry and breakfast, I checked out Guru Walk to see if there were any walking tours today. I found one that worked out time-wise so after Sue and I attended Mass we found Bob and met with our guide Hugo. The tour was in Spanish so Bob used some nifty earbuds that translated for him. He rated the ear buds a B-. We all rated the tour an A+. Yesterday, walking into Pontevedra, I had noticed that there were many large plazas. Our guide took us to several and explained that each plaza had been created for specific jobs, such as Plaza de Verduras (vegetables), Plaza de Ferreiros (ironworks), Plaza de Pan (bread), etc. One of the most interesting parts of the tour was his explanation of the facade of the Church of Santa Maria. It was funded by fisherman so it faces the river rather than the plaza. Some unusual aspects of this facade are the depictions of the non-religious figures of Hernan Cortez and Christopher Columbus, the latter of whom is thought to be Galician, not Italian.

After the tour, we shared a table at a cafe with an Australian couple. We had a very nice time chatting with them and it turns out that they have relatives in Folsom, CA. Small world.

We shared a few plates at dinner and shared a few laughs with our server. He gifted us shots of Baileys and told us it was too early to go to bed even though we're walking 20 kilometers uphill tomorrow. We know all the Camino maps lie and it will be more than 20 kilometers.Read more