Gonzar to Melide, Spain - October 10
We set out before sunrise again since we had a nearly 21 mile walk. It was crisp and cool with fog and mist in the air. As the sun rose, it cast a beautiful glow to the landscape through the mist. I love starting early like this.
We stopped for breakfast around 10:00am at a small cafe called Bar Trisquel in Monterroso. The owner greeted us warmly as we settled at our table. I can’t tell you how excited I was to find multiple vegetarian options on the menu that were not Spanish Omelette or bread and cheese. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Spanish bread and cheese and most cafes also serve very good tortillas, but after three plus weeks of eating them for breakfast I was dying for a change. I had a toasted vegetable sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion and asparagus plus a cafe con leche(coffee with steamed milk) and a cafe solo (basically an expresso which I add to the other to make it a bit stronger). It all tasted so good, I ordered another round of all three. The owner found my request a bit surprising - to the point she confirmed it with Olga in Spanish to make sure she understood. I had no problem finishing off the seconds! Happy stomach 🤣. It’s amazing how much I ate each day during our walks, and still managed to drop nearly two waist sizes over the four plus weeks. Thank heaven I have an adjustable belt.
We continued on our way making pretty good time. The book and app we use for route planning rated today’s hike as “hard” with about 3500 ft of elevation change but honestly it didn’t seem that bad to us. We walked through some beautiful towns and landscape. Galicia is stunning!
We arrived in Palas de Rei around 12:30. It’s a bigger town than many of the others along this portion. The Camino route through town passes by the Church of San Tirso Palas de Rei. It was built in the last third of the 12th century though only a small portion of the original structure remains after multiple expansions made during the 20th century. Olga and I went inside to get a pilgrim pass stamp. I lit a candle for Sunita’s mom ( an actual candle, not just a light bulb 😐). The inside is simple, but beautiful.
It took us another few hours of walking to reach Melide. We passed through more small towns, through a light industrial area on the outskirts and over a Roman bridge as we entered the city. We were happy to finally catch up with Sunita at the apartment we rented for the night (can you say “washing machine?” 😎). Sunita had made a trip to the grocery store before we arrived so we had food and cold beverages waiting. Gracias!!!!!
