Alameda Park

It's raining now as it often does at this time of day, but fortunately, I arrived at my room before the downpour! I am thrilled because tonight I am in a really lovely, quaint bed and breakfast right out of England! I am feeling hopeful tomorrow that breakfast might include an egg!

The walking today was quite good despite the fact that for 20 km there were a lot of hills, and, of course, some of them steeper than others, and the other 5 km into Palas de Rei were relatively flat. I am thankful that today there were very few descents, especially the really steep ones.

Today Deanne, Veronica and I took the small detour through a grassy field and came upon the roman ruins. It was a short, steep 150 meter detour and well worth it. It was one of the few times the Way was quiet as most pilgrims avoided the detour. These ruins are extremely well preserved and date back to the 4th century BC.

After the ruins, the Way continued along countryside roads with very little traffic, and through forests of oak and chestnut trees. A very pleasant walk overall. A few towns had busy cafes, and when I was about 19 km into the walk, I decided to stop at a cafe and have a juice, which turned into a burger and a beer. After all this time, I have learned that it is possible to stop walking, eat a burger and drink a beer, and still be able to walk another 6 km rather uneventfully!

There is another cafe further up the road that was busy with locals enjoying Sunday lunch. I would have loved to have visited this restaurant after a shower, and a rest, but on Sunday many finer restaurants only serve Sunday lunch and are closed for dinner. So the next time, I am passing through, I have made a mental note to not miss this restaurant, Casa Brea.

Look at the picture of my finger pointing at a cross in the stone. You need to look carefully so you can see the engraved Templar cross on the stone. I should have taken a picture of this small church that at one time was a 12th century hospital, but the crowds at this small church and the line up to get a stamp was a bit of an ordeal, and I forgot. But once we were outside of the church, we knew these engravings were on the south of the church, so we began to look and sure enough there were a few etched into the stone. The significance of this is that the structure was rebuilt by villagers a fews years back using some of the stones from the original Templar hospital that still remained. Remember that the Templar knights protected and served the pilgrims during the 12th and 13th century.

Just as a point of interest, all pilgrims carry a "credential" that you get stamped as you move along the Camino. Many of these stamps are ordinary, but sometimes the stamps are beautiful. But in order to get your certificate in Santiago, you MUST have two stamps per day in the last 100 km. Hence, a line up for a stamp today.

The church, Iglesia de San Tirso, as you are entering the last of the towns today, Palas de Rei, is a modest and more modern church, but the foundations of this church have been there since the 9th century, and the facade at the alter of the church is an original 12th century facade giving even a church build in the 19th century, a more 12th century appeal.

I have attached a picture of a sculpture of Mary holding Baby Jesus who has only one sandal dangling from his foot. Legend has it that when Jesus was young, the angels appeared to him to reveal his last days and his death. So terrified, Baby Jesus, ran to his mother and lost His sandal. The story reminds us that even the divine can be frightened by the trials of earthly existence!Les mer