A Morning on the Water

 

This morning we strayed from walking and instead took a boat from Villanova de Arousa to Pontecesures. This route through the estuary of the Ulla River and then up the river itself is known as the Via Cruces Maritimo, the Maritime Way of the Cross. 

We left the marina just as the sun was coming up over the hills—a gorgeous morning! There are 17 crosses along this stretch of the Ulla, and believe me, a half hour into the voyage we were counting to ourselves to figure out how many were left  as we grew colder and colder in the wind and fog. 

In addition to the crosses, we also passed the remains of an ancient fort built to protect the settlements further up the river from marauding Vikings.

It was a beautiful ride, and it beat walking on a highway for sure, but we were absolutely, totally chilled by the time we arrived in Pontecesures. In fact, we were so cold, that we ducked into the first open cafe we could find and ordered coffee. I was shivering so badly that I was afraid to pick up my coffee cup and had to slurp the first few sips from the table level. Sheesh!

After finally warming up, we returned to the regular Camino and soon found ourselves in the town of Padron (accent on the O.) Padron is the city where the ship carrying St. James’ remains tied up, upon its arrival in Spain. (James, you might remember, was beheaded in Jerusalem.) The original padron, the granite cleat the ship was tied to, is now in the Igrexa de Santiago. The padron, and St. James, have the company of my favorite saint of eyeball renown—Santa Lucia! This was the most gruesome rendition yet—I sure hope she makes an appearance tomorrow in Santiago de Compostela!

From Padron, it was up again through small towns and super narrow cobblestone roads to our stop for the day at Prada do Francos. Here we are staying in a small in, right on the narrow road that is the Camino.

 

And, I couldn’t resist stopping to visit with a family of Beagle puppies—I miss my dogs (and David!) It’s the final walk tomorrow, from here to Santiago de Compostela. Hard to believe we will have walked at least 170 miles (not including the walking we’ve done on our R&R days.)