Sunday 6 September 2015

Walking the Camino de Santiago de Compestela Day 1

We arrived in Sarria after nearly 40 hours travelling which included stopovers and didn't arrive in Sarria until around 7 pm, we were so thankful that we were having 2 nights there.
We explored the old town which included a couple of churches and an ex monastery now na auberge.

After a quiet day and a second night sleep we were ready for our first walking day which we started full optimism. We climbed the strap steps out of the town and followed the yellow arrows along many woodland tracks and gravel pathways. Where the paths climbed steadily we were slowed down somewhat. After 9km we stopped at Peruscallo for a drink and a short sit down.

The countryside is interesting with many little dairy farms from which much of the special local cheese is made. Many of the village buildings are simple stone structures. Most villages had little chapels with equally tiny graveyards.

Our lunch stop was 4kms further on at Ferreiros revived us but my feet were getting sore. We plodded onto Portomarin without a break. It is a small town with a cobbled stoned main street surrounded by stone colonnades.

There is a rather austere Romanesque fortress church that dominates the town square. It was built as both a place of worship and for defence and has 4 defensive towers and battlements. The interior church is quite simple and typical of the Romanesque style.

An early dinner as we were tired and wanted to have a good night's sleep so we would be refreshed for our next day's walk . Our first day we were able to complete the 22kms without too much trouble.