47. Lourenzá to As Paredes

‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more…’. 

And so another day begins. Rising, packing, and walking. At 7.00 am, I met up with David coming from his pension and we grabbed a quick coffee and tostada in the nearest open cafe. From there the path turned immediately up, the first climb of the day. Guess who? caught in the blinding beam of David’s head torch.

Photo courtesy of David (England)

The church of Santiago, not the cathedral!!

The first town we came to was Mondoñedo. It has a much bigger church (early gothic with a later baroque facade), indeed this is a cathedral! Building began in 1230 and it sits nestled in the heart of the town. 

There are big celebrations happening in Mondoñedo this weekend, apparently the oldest festival in Galicia, involving lots of horses and no doubt plenty of dressing up. Alas, we came and went too early to take part in anything. In fact, when we arrived the town was barely waking up.

Photo courtesy of David (England)

From Mondoñedo, the path led upwards to the great high plain that is most of Spain.

It was a long, hard climb but I think it is the last significant climb of this route. Anyway, here’s me triumphant at breaching the summit.

Photo courtesy of Robin (Netherlands)

From the top of the climb was a relatively relaxing stroll through rolling Galician hills and dales to today’s destination.

Photo courtesy of Robin (Netherlands)

I wonder if these two are heading for more horse festivities In Mondoñedo? Wherever they were going, they weren’t mucking around

Tonight, I’m staying in this delightful rural hostel in As Paredes. 

Makeshift treatment for a footsore pilgrim. This kind of scene is not unusual on camino!

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It was a relaxing late afternoon chatting with new pilgrim friends at the hostel. And then we gathered around a huge long table to share a hearty pilgrim menu - empanada, salad, lentil soup, tortilla and rice pudding. 

And now it’s 8.10pm here. Definitely time for bed!

Buenas noches, amigos.

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