Day 7 A Guarda to Pedra Rubia,Spain 24.79 km
Today was a long but beautiful walk along the coast. We have stayed in varied accommodations but tonight’s is especially unique. We are in a mobile home in a trailer park all to ourselves. As I write I’m watching the waves of the Atlantic Ocean crash on the beach. This is the most relaxed we have been in days. Today was an especially lovely day practicing our Spanish with locals. In Oia, someone tried to give us half of her loaf of bread because she wasn’t sure we were going to make it to the market in time. Opening times are something we have had to learn to watch carefully both in Portugal and Spain. We aren’t used to grocery stores shutting down for a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon. Also, restaurants will often close after lunch and not open again for supper until seven or eight in the evening. I realized I haven’t talked about the encouraging piles of rocks we pass along the way. Sometimes it’s locals leaving us a message and sometimes it’s pilgrims. Some pilgrims carry a rock in memory of someone, or to represent something they are struggling with. Today’s rocks were mostly happy. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Day 8 Pedra Rubia to Baiona, Spain 10.7 km Overnight the rain thundered on the roof of our mobile home. Predictions were that we would be walking in the rain all day. Surprise, surprise—perfect weather. Everything about today has been perfect. Last Camino we walked by Spanish Paradores and said SOMEDAY! Today is someday—we are halfway and we’ve treated ourselves to an overnight in a castle. It is everything I dreamed of and more. But let’s back up just a little bit. Partway to our destination we were starving. Nothing seemed to be open (we’ve talked about those tricky restaurant hours before). Then we passed a restaurant that said opening at one and it was exactly one. Now, here’s the problem it looked pretty fancy. When we are walking we do NOT look pretty fancy. Ray asked to see a menu before we went in and the prices looked reasonable so we headed in backpacks and all. They were so kind. They brought our sparkling water with fancy glasses, an ice bucket with tongs, and a plate of freshly sliced lemons. Ray finally got to try grilled sardines. Pretty sure he ate an entire school of fish😄 They even treated us to complimentary lemon sorbet for dessert. When we asked for a pilgrim stamp they said “Of course”. It was as if they see grubby pilgrims every day. When Christopher Colombus’ boats returned with news of the “discovery” of America the destination chosen by the captain of the Pinta was Baiona. His boat was the first to arrive in Spain. I like to imagine that someone was standing right here on these castle grounds when they heard the news. Something substantial has been on this site since Roman times (60 A.D.). A castle, more like what we are experiencing, has been around since the 16th century. It will be back to basic accommodations tomorrow. Tonight we are enjoying walking the ramparts, taking selfies with the armour, and eating the very posh chocolate orange ice cream. You are always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
16 Comments
NPWS7A
5/8/2023 07:05:36 am
Wow those rocks look cool did you paint any?
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Diane
5/8/2023 09:23:06 am
Loved the rocks too. I didn’t paint any but I know some folks paint rocks here and there and drop them around listowel. I do paint though—watercolour….maybe I should try rocks 😄
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Makayla and Alexis
5/8/2023 07:10:46 am
What’s the weirdest thing you have ate on you trip so far
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Diane
5/8/2023 09:23:45 am
I didn’t eat them…but Ray’s sardines.
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NPWAS7
5/8/2023 07:11:33 am
I feel on the restaurant part. I never feel as though I can match myself to fancy restaurant standards. Anyways, I feel that I would be clumsy around the knights armours and stuff. I hope the rooms were comfy!
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Diane
5/8/2023 09:25:59 am
One of my sons once left a restaurant because he thought only the “beautiful people” were eating there. At some point in your life you get to… the .stage…I don’t know them…they don’t know me…I’m just going to embrace it.
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MLW 7
5/8/2023 07:18:00 am
How far did you walk on the beach
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Diane
5/8/2023 09:26:51 am
We walked along the beach for days…we are heading inland now
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Kelsey, Molly, Jorja
5/8/2023 07:18:12 am
Oh, lemon sorbet…. Sounds different. Did you each get some? Was the restaurant as fancy as you thought?
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Diane
5/8/2023 09:29:01 am
Yes, the restaurant was a fancy as we thought. And a huge shout out to the staff who treated us as though we were royalty even though we were ordering the cheaper menu items. We both got the fancy sorbet…..but if we only had one Ray would have shared.
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Hailey and Kinzie W7
5/8/2023 07:19:52 am
Which rock was your favourite or caught your eye the most?
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Diane
5/8/2023 09:29:51 am
Olaf😄 My granddaughter loves frozen.
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NPW 7th Alex Alex connnor
5/8/2023 07:25:14 am
Do you like the fish and are you a fan of the millwakke bucks basketball team
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Diane
5/8/2023 09:33:07 am
Ray loved the sardines. I’m not a huge fan of my food looking at me…but I did try a bite.
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NPWS7
5/11/2023 05:49:34 am
I hope the stay at the castle wasn't too bad but it also seemed really fun!
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Ray
5/12/2023 05:25:30 am
While Diane’s sickness was a bit of a problem she really couldn’t have picked a better place to be sick. We had a very large room and private bathroom. Would have been difficult in a shared dormitory like we are in tonight.
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