Camino – Page 2 – KEVIN CRAIG

Camino de Santiago – Day 11 – Palas de Rei to Arzua

We are in our albergue in Arzua. It was a long day. Feels like the longest yet, but I don’t really have the energy to check! Here’s the damage…

There is loud music coming in the open door and I hope it stops before it gets too late. Uh oh!

The sun is shining down on our clothes on the line and we’re chilling after having had a marvelous supper at Ultreia Restaurante and Albergue… which is located a few blocks away on the main drag. We ate there in 2019 and I was adamant about going there again. They have traditional Galician food, but their Italian is absolutely spectacular.

Here’s my blog post about Ultreia Restaurante from 2019.

Here’s what we ate this afternoon at Ultreia…

We both had the Mushroom Ravioli for our first.

Michael had the steak and chips. I don’t like steak. His honest opinion was that it was too red inside for his liking.

We both had the lemon cream cannoli with lemon ice cream. Heaven!

The day had, as usual, many ups and many downs. As always, it was beautiful. A few raindrops fell, but too few to mention. Wait… I did just mention them.

We left our albergue at 6:59am. Still dark. It was uphill almost right from the start, soon after the statues in the final pic below…

A few pics along the way…

We both posed with St. James…

We were soon–hours later–in Milede. This city is famous for its pulpo (octopus). We did not have any this time round.

After Melide, we just had a few more towns to go through. It was a hard slag today. It would be nice to break this section up into two days. I would suggest either Melide or Ribadiso. I stayed in Ribadiso in 2014…it’s a nice place.

Soon, we were in Arzua! I’ve never been so happy to see a place. We actually stopped and had our supper at Ultreia Restaurante before we checked into our albergue. It was on the way… and we are in for the night! (Reader, it’s 5:12pm!)

The famous mural that everyone in YouTube videos says the guy looks like Kevin Costner. 😉

We stayed in this albergue in 2019. It’s clean and cheap. The shower is a press on/off with a timer, but good hot water and good pressure.

Albergue Pension Cima do Lugar

That is it for today! Tomorrow we head for Amenal. The albergue is Kilometro 15…so that tells you just how close to Santiago de Compostela we’ll be once we arrive! Almost there!

Buen Camino, peregrinos/peregrinas! Until tomorrow!

Click here to jump to DAY 12 – Arzua to O Amenal!

If you’ve found this post helpful and would like to support this page, you can do so by buying me a coffee! KevinCraig-BuyMeACoffee

While you’re here, I wrote a novel set on the Camino Frances route. You can check it out at Amazon here: THE CAMINO CLUB

Camino de Santiago – Day 10 – Portomarin to Palas de Rei

We made it! I am so tired, this is going to be a short post.

We left our albergue in Portomarin at 7:12am. The second photo below is the big hill we climbed after leaving Portomarin. In 2014, our group didn’t stay in Portomarin, but just walked through it. We went to a supermarcado and bought all the fixings for a picnic. We had an excellent picnic of meats and cheeses and crackers and treats at the top of that hill just outside of Portomarín. It was pure perfection! Thanks to our fearless leader, Sue Kenney!

Here we are at the picnic at the top of the hill in May, 2014.

As the sunrise happened this morning, we realized it might just be an iffy day, weather-wise. It would look really nice one minute, and close to rain the next. The mist was everywhere and the sun was not burning it off. The heat of the sun was just not there today.

Before the rain came, though, I was able to visit the incredible ruins at Castromaior. They really take your breath away. They were developed in the Iron Age, and it was inhabited between the 4th century BC and 1AD. Absolutely amazing! The first photo, we took at the top of the hill in Castromaior. Once we crested the hill, there’s a milemarker. If you follow the little path through the brush from that marker, you will find the ruins about 100 feet in.

The milemarker after the hill. You can go straight back from this marker to the ruins. Just up over a little hill. Two minutes away from this marker…not far at all, and well worth it!

Soon after leaving the ruins, we hit our first period of rain. Out came the rain ponchos.

Then the sun came out and our ponchos dried up… right before the second downpour. The last 5kms or so was all rain. The ponchos kept us mostly dry, though. We are now in our hostel, Pensión Santirso. It’s about three minutes from the centre of town… not that bad. We went into town for a nice Pilgrim meal. Now, we are ready for bed!!

That’s it for today! Onward to Arzua tomorrow! Buen Camino, peregrinos/peregrinas!

Click here to jump to DAY 11 – Palas de Rei to Arzua!

If you’ve found this post helpful and would like to support this page, you can do so by buying me a coffee! KevinCraig-BuyMeACoffee

While you’re here, I wrote a novel set on the Camino Frances route. You can check it out at Amazon here: THE CAMINO CLUB

O Mirador – A Jewel on the Camino de Santiago! A Must Visit Restaurant in Portomarin!

We just returned to our albergue from an evening at O Mirador. What a lovely dining experience we had!

We had a lovely view of the Rio Miño, and the most excellent of meals. Our server was most gracious about taking our photo, too. There really are no bad tables at O Mirador. The restaurant seating is a semi-circle, with most tables facing the beautiful river.

We had a variety of dishes from the menu. And each and every one was delectable.

We started with a Rioja wine, because when in Spain! It was so nice.

We started with the Homemade croquettes. They were absolutely melt in your mouth goodness. Pure magic! Melty cheese and ham. SO GOOD!

We could not NOT order the cheese board. We love our cheese and this selection was SO DELICIOUS.

How can bread even BE next level! YUM. It went so well with the cheeses! Say yes to bread!

You’re never going to guess what we had next. Padrón peppers. Again! And not a single hot one. I was afraid after yesterday, but these were all tame and delicious.

With the Padrón peppers came our shared main. With all the starters, we only had the one main between us… no issues.

It was delicious. I’m not one for beef, but it was really tender and tasty. You could taste the charcoal. Nicely medium rare.

Then came the delectable dessert! Again, we shared. We each picked something that piqued our interest and tastebuds, and we were both thrilled with the result.

I chose the Stones of Portomarín (Ancano). Michael chose the brownie. We were so spoiled! Absolutely delicious!

I’m so happy we reserved for O Mirador in advance. It was such a lovely experience! Our special treat for breaking the 100km milemarker today. Why not? You only live once. There’s no one else in the world I would have wanted to experience it with. A lovely night!

If you are planning your Camino Frances Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, make sure to book O Mirador for your meal in Portomarin. After all those kilometres, you deserve it!

It was a lovely walk back to our albergue.

The receipt, to satiate your curiosity. 😊

Buen Camino, peregrinos/peregrinas! Tomorrow we walk to Palas de Rei!