On this penultimate day (6 of 7) of my Camino Portuguese journey (which I did around Easter time back in 2017), I would cover the last long stage of this camino, a full length marathon. Thankfully, as far as my badly blistered feet were concerned, the worst was over, and I was actually able to walk fairly comfortably at a good pace all day.
After crossing the Ponte de Burgo in Pontevedra, it wasn’t long before I was walking in solitude, which is the way I like it, though I did pass a few other pilgrims, who had started out earlier, during the first 10 kilometres. Fortunately, nothing also came of the forecast rainy day, and I was soon enjoying the gentle warmth of the morning sunshine on my way to the day’s destination of Padrón, my last stop before reaching Santiago de Compostela.
The highlights of this 6th day, apart from enjoying the Galician countryside, which was every bit as spectacular as that of northern Portugal, were the Parroquia de Santo Tomás Becket in Caldas de Reis, and a ‘rocket fueled’ lunch break at Café Esperon, which had me literally flying over the final 8km. Also, the final 500m stretch under the tree arches of the riverside buolevard in Padrón, as the light of the day melted away around me, was absolutely magical. It gave me the chance for some deeper reflection about the (and I can honestly say brutal) physical penance that I had ended up paying to reach this point.
After buying some local seafood in the town centre, I enjoyed a simple, but rather delicious meal of spicy tomato soup with fresh mussels and bread, all washed down with a few glasses of vino tinto. After that, I was definitely ready for bed. It ended up being probably the best sleep that I’d had during the entire camino, as there was now nothing that could stop me from reaching my destination of Santiago the following day. Sweet dreams indeed!
Jyri
More about the camino:
The Camino Portuguese de Santiago, or Portuguese Way, is a Christian pilgrimage trail of about 245km that starts at the cathedral in Porto, Portugal and ends at its architectural namesake in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, but it isn’t just for the dogmatically inclined. It’s also traversed by people of all backgrounds and for all kinds of different reasons, though commonly in connection with personal growth However, regardless of the multitude of possible personal life or spiritual perspectives, it’s also simply an absolutely magnificent and interesting, scenic week-long walk!
run for your life 