We knew it would be a long day to Arcade. We left our Tui hotel in a taxi that dropped us in O Porrino at the same spot where we left off the day before.
The hike was 15.38 miles, 9:37 am to 5:51 pm. 1636 feet elevation change. 16.8 total miles for the day.
The Church of Santa Maria in O Porrino is relatively modern.
Very quickly there were hills to climb. Some were on the highways with cars.
There are so many more pilgrims on the road that we are now being recognized. I can’t say it slows down the drivers, but at least they are aware of us.
The bells were lovely at this church, but it was unfortunately closed so we were not able to go in.
Every once in a while we spot these pilgrim stores. They carry all kinds of goods for backpackers as well as the familiar keychains, jewelry, and other souvenirs. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are enough foot medications being sold (even at farmacias.)
Once we reached the top of the mountain, the road dropped off very quickly. It was slow going with steep downhill roads.
There was a Santiago Cathedral in Redondela. It was closed, but St. James the Moorslayer greets us from the roof.
We briefly saw an ocean inlet and bridge from Redondela.
As we climbed the last big hill on Thursday, we found this group of notes and items on the wall.
Wayne from the Boston area also stopped to examine the notes. He blogs with his biking friends and told us this story (since we both want to live a great story):
A friend stopped at one of the many roadside shrines to give a quick prayer. “Please help me ride faster than my friend Tom.” Immediately he felt he had received an answer. “It doesn’t work that way but I can’t explain now. We’ll talk more when we have time.”
Further down the hill these colored shoes substitute for arrows to Santiago (yellow) and Fatima (blue)
Finally arrived at our hotel in Arcade and our hotel had a balcony! Treats on the balcony!
Across the street from our hotel, the Santiago church featured the pilgrim out from and the moorslayer inside.
The view from our hotel as clouds close in. If you look carefully, you can see the inlet waters from the sea.