Camino Primitivo: Sojourning to Melide

21 May 2022 Thom Camino Primitivo, Pilgrim Reports

Great night’s sleep in Ponte Ferreira and an early breakfast. They put on quite a spread, which was much appreciated. Last night’s communal pilgrim dinner was similarly lavish, and vegetarian for a Friday for us. Another cool, misty morning in Galicia. Once again, we were determined to get as many kilometers behind us as possible before the sun burned off the mist.

Walk today began on asphalt, a continuation of yesterday. Soon enough though the Camino struck off on unpaved roads across the Galician countryside, through fields, woods, and numerous small villages and farmsteads. We were apparently out early enough this morning that the cows were all still asleep in their barns.

Early in the day, we came upon a small outdoor shrine to Saint James, with running water and a fountain for pilgrims. An absolutely serene place.

While trying the door of yet another locked country church, I found a four leaf clover. It appears that Saint Patrick is trying to get my attention, as he has ever since our sojourn in Boston.

The mist burned off early – or perhaps we just climbed above it – as we continued to gain altitude to go over our final pass through the foothills. Praise God there was lots of shade, at least until we got above the tree line. A little ridge walking, with a forested cleft valley to our left and a stunning rocky outcropping towering over us to the right. And then down and up on an asphalt road until we had at last crested the pass.

We walked through a short woods, turned a corner, and then suddenly we could see in the distance below us the great city of Melide, our destination for the day. After that, it was pretty much all downhill both literally and figuratively.

Lunch at Bar Casa Modesto in the village of Vilamor de Abaixo was ham and cheese empanada with beer. The bar is not listed in any of our guides or maps and appears to be new this year.

About a kilometer farther on, I picked up an ice cream cone to eat along the way. I am always amazed at how constantly hungry I am after a week or so on Camino. I’m sure it’s the calorie deficiency caused by 6 to 8 hours of walking a day. I shouldn’t be surprised, but I still am.

Unfortunately, after my ice cream it was road walking on asphalt all the way into town. It was overcast and humid, but not hot, which helped.

Gradually, the farmhouses grew closer and closer together until they touched, and then they were rowhouses. One minute there’s a pasture to the left, and the next it’s all houses, and eventually blocks of flats.

We were checked into our albergue by 2:00 PM. They’re followed the usual routine: showers, laundry, updating the blog. Note that I did so while drinking a refreshing Estrella Galicia beer that I purchased from a vending machine at the albergue.

Probably going to see if we can find something to eat soon.

Today we have now joined the much larger and more popular route, the Camino Francés. We expect the number of pilgrims to increase again by an order of magnitude from here to Santiago.

May you have a blessed day!