Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that this summer (2022) I finally finished walking the last 115km along the Camino de Santiago, from Sarría to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. This is the fifth leg of the Camino which I started in 2016 (if you’re interested, I wrote a Q&A post in response to some of the questions people had asked me along the way that year). In theory, was supposed to complete a leg each summer until 2020. This is Day 41 (other posts from other stages are linked at the end of this post).
Today, I’m sharing… the SECOND LAST DAY OF THE CAMINO! I can’t quite believe I’m writing that (or that it’s taken me so long to get to writing these last few days up… hello back-to-school 2022!).
This was another 20km day so we needed to fuel up at breakfast ^^^
And though it was a long day, there was varied scenery to look at and a few small towns which always makes things more interesting… Before we even left Arzua, we were getting stamps from some friendly nuns…
And shortly after we left town, we came across an enterprising fellow…
(though honestly if you didn’t have your stick by now it was a bit late!)
On we pushed…
(definitely more people on the Camino on this day – you could tell we were getting close to the end!)
Of course there was second breakfast…
With free brownies! Thanks Casa Calzada!
Lots to see on the way today
… including this beer garden!
The Casa Tia Dolores bar is worth a stop (and a beer!).
Surprisingly we didn’t stop because we had a midday destination in mind, intriguingly labelled as a “T-shirt Bar” in the Camino guide. There was no such bar to be found but we did find this place…
Yep, still most definitely “pulpo” territory!
Also, mini paellas as a bar snack!
And the #catsofthecamino were out in force!
Plus, if you had “interesting doors and Camino signs to get excited about” on your bingo card… DING DING DING!
FINALLY – Santiago on the road signs!!!
Loads of shade on the road today, it really was a pretty day’s walking!
And yep, more enterprising locals!
The road into O Pedrouzo was colourful…
And finally, we arrived in the tiny town (population: less than 1000).
… where our pensión had some peaceful neighbours…
Ouf…
Because there was lots to look at and a couple of stops, this leg definitely felt easier than others but I know we were all pleased to *just* have one more 20k day…
And because there was only one more day left, we decided we needed to eat a traditional “Pilgrim Menu” for dinner…
Not fancy, for sure but it did include all the wien we wanted…
(not many details here for our newly-minted sommelier LOL!)
OK, most definitely not the fanciest meal (and, apart from the desserts and padrón peppers, not the most memorable) but we figured we had already enjoyed some amazing food and there was more in our future, this is most definitely part of the “pilgrim” experience.
Verdict: A pleasant day’s walking (with the promise of ONE MORE DAY TO GO!!).
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Disclosure: I researched Camino trips independently and chose the Camino Travel Center based on a number of features such as flexibility to accommodate a couple of “splits” in some of the longer days, price, and customer service. They were, in fact, the first company I came across in my very first Google search and the one I ended up booking with. From the initial inquiry to the actual trips, they have been a pleasure to deal with and we have been very impressed with the service provided (bag transportation) and the accommodation choices. I was not compensated to write about this trip in any way but I love sharing companies and products I believe in with my readers. I couldn’t recommend the Camino Travel Center more and, in fact, we are all thinking about walking a DIFFERENT Camino in 2023!
Read more about the Camino de Santiago
Click here to read all my posts about the Camino de Santiago!
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I’ve been craving a brownie for the last two weeks on the camino and will pass Casa Calzada in two days – their brownies look wonderful! Unfortunately they are temporarily closed – I’m so disappointed.