It's WET!

It seems incredible, but less than a month ago I did a post titled "It's Hot".  How things have changed.   Since leaving Pontevedra, indeed at times before that, we have had rain falling in torrents.  This morning we left after the sun, if it could be seen, had risen, but for over an hour we walked in almost pre dawn gloom.  

Leaving Pontevedra

We set off in rain, forecast to get heavy, which it did, and continued sloshing our way onwards.  Within about 30 minutes my feet were sodden, which in turn gave me the freedom to stop trying to find the driest route, and instead charge straight through the puddles and watercourses flooding the path.  After the initial shock of cold water it became fun, and I was reminded of childhood games playing in puddles and such like.

Casa Misericordia 

Our ultimate destination on leaving Pontevedra was Caldas de Reis.  It wasn't a difficult day - just a heavy slog in the rain.  This was an unusual day though as we passed three small churches which were open, generally an uncommon thing in Galicia.  Of course I didn't miss the opportunity to sing in each of them.  Caldas de Reis is a lovely town with thermal springs, and some outdoor pools with thermal water.  

Leaving this morning, we were warned that the path was flooded, and given directions for the likely detour. As it turned out the flooding at that point had subsided, but there was plenty more further on.  Each bar we stopped at was crowded with pilgrims, dripping water everywhere, and trying to find somewhere dry for some respite from the unrelenting downpour.  However, the day was not all doom and gloom as, when we began walking after the lunch break the sun appeared for a few hours, before the heavens opened again, just as we entered Padrón.

Sunshine!

Padrón is an interesting town.  In the church by the river is the mooring post that the stone boat that Santiago and two of his followers had floated in (with the help of Archangel Michael) to Galicia.  The boat was able to be moored here because in Roman times this town had a harbour. A fountain across the river has a stone relief of the boat.

As you can see in the photos, there is no shortage of pilgrims on the road.  Many are "refugees" from the alternative coastal path who have been forced to leave that route and join the central route.  There have been incredible winds and high seas along the coast, and so many decided,  for safety, to come inland.  Added to that, many who were planning to walk the Espiritual variant have been forced to abandon that too.  Not only have the high winds, torrential rain, and high seas caused pilgrims to change paths, but the numerous boats and ferries they would have caught have not been running either.

And so we all head onwards to Santiago de Compostela.   Some planning to get there in a days time, others, like us, breaking the journey into two. A bedraggled, motley bunch we will look like when we arrive, but content with our achievements, whatever they might be.