We leave Palas de Rei early in the rain as our destination of Arzua is about 19 miles. This statue on the edge ot town conventiently points pilgrims to the Camino path.
Tried to hijack this Bread Truck, but someone in our party put a damper on my plans. Tell me you wouldn't have tried...
This mausoleum and chapel sit on the outskirts of Leboreiro. Mausoleums always seem to have a chapel on the grounds, while graveyards do not. All the graveyards we've seen have been behind stone fences, and now have locked gates. During our pilgrimage in 2016, the gates were open.
The Casa Domingo albergue welcomes travelers with this massive stone scallop shell, a common emblem of the pilgrimage.
We are still mystified by this large basket made of small tree limbs. It's about 4 feet in diamater and sits just outside the church in Leboreiro. Jeff said maybe it's temporary quarters for children who are unruly in church.
Iglesia de Santa Maria church in Leboreiro.
Medival stone bridge near Furelos, population 135. We will cross several stone bridges today on our way to Arzua.
Arched stone bridge over Rio Furelos into Melide, population 7,800 (Dintaman & Landes, 2017).
Rooftops of Melide from the bridge. Melide is famous for its Pulpo a la Gallega. Boiled octopus over steamed potatoes in olive oil and paprika. Delicious! We've enjoyed this dish several times in the past few days. Melide is where the Camino Primative route joins the Frances (main) route.
As we leave Melide we meet Mercedes doing her laundry on the limestones at a pilgrim fountain/bath. She was delightful and we pantomimed a converstion with her for a few minutes before continuing on our way.
Another mile down the road and Jeff meets a small herd of milk cows. He's getting used to the livestock! There was a bit of apprehension at first, but I kept taking photos and saying, "They only have lower teeth on the bottom; they aren't going to bite you. Unless, of course you get caught in their back molars, which are top and bottom... then you're cuw food."
As we near Arzua we pass through Castaneda which housed the limekilns we mentioned a few days ago. This was the destination of the limestones that some pilgrims carried nearly 100 km to contribute to building the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela (Dintaman & Landes, 2017). We arrive in Arzua a bit damp (understatement), but in great spirits. This is the last tough hiking day. Not saying there aren't more hills to climb or descend, but they won't be as challenging as today.
