Friday, 11th October, 2019.
"More than ever, the importance of silence in our contemporary, noisy world in which our minds get noisier, calls for this way of stillness and silence and speaks to us of a deep human need. Silence can unite with a bond that does not require words ...... Words can never equal the reality they are trying to express."
From Silence as Prayer (Dierdre Kelly) Milton Parish NSW, from Fr Michael's daily reflections.
Our Harvest info had listed today as a 13km walk, but this had included going from Palas de Rei to Melide (where we would have an included octopus lunch) by bus, and then walking on to Arzua. Val, our Spanish guide, offered this stage to us in optional sections: the whole distance (29kms) or one or more of four sections.
I was only geared up to walk 13kms, especially after having walked 20+ kms for each of the last three days, so I decided I'd be happy if I made it to the second check point, Melide (15km), and see how I felt then.
We visited this church of San Tirso in Palas de Rei, and set off from here, just as the sun was rising (8.41am). Sunset is not until about 8pm.
It was very pleasant walking in the early morning. Only 61kms to go! I made the first check point, Campanilla, after 8kms, feeling pretty good, so kept going.
Through a village, receiving a blessing.
Now there's a familiar looking tree.
This house in the village Leboreiro had a very prominent yellow arrow for us made of the Camino symbol cockle shells plastered onto the wall.
Outside Leboreiro was this very pretty bridge.
Outside Leboreiro, passing through an avenue of poplars just turning gold, with their leaves fluttering onto the path, I was reminded of a postcard of a Pissarro painting I had on my bedroom wall when I was about 13.
Entree du Village de Voisins (Camille Pissarro) 1872.
At last! The signpost said Melide, and how beautiful.
What an attractive introduction to our second checkpoint town.
Melide was shaping up to be a very pretty village, with stone-paved streets. Our lunch restaurant must be just around the next corner ......
But no! After a few more twists and turns in the ancient village, we were out in open country once again, and there was the town of Melide at the top of a distant hill. Not only that, but the last kilometre or so was a steep, straight main road with not an ounce of shade. Once in the town, there were several bends, all revealing another uphill path. Seeing the Harvest bus, normally a moment of great exultation, was almost an anticlimax. The provided lunch of octopus (a specialty of the area) and salad was beautifully presented, but I have to admit I was too zoned-out to care.
Some of our group had already left to do one or both of the next two stages, and some had already come on the bus to Melide. I had had surgery on my right knee some time ago, and it has been perfect (thank you Pedram) but now my left knee is starting to hurt. I decided that I had achieved the minimum of what I had set out to do today, so wouldn't walk any further. There were only four others of us who wanted to do this, so Val suggested that we take a taxi straight to the hotel, as the bus would have to wait at both the next two checkpoints for everyone to finish.
This turned out to be a very smart plan.
Our taxi drove right through the town of Arzua and out into the country. Then it took a dirt track off the main road, and after a while around a wall and in through an arched gate and here was this magnificent building which took our breath away. This was our hotel! It is a stately home which is used as a hotel for part of the year.
We threw the staff into some confusion arriving early (it seemed at first that there wasn't a room for Marianne) but eventually we were all given keys. I was ushered into this magnificent room (with padded wallpaper).
The room opened out to this terrace .....
..... with this view.
Door of the bedroom.
Luckily I didn't hop into the shower or jump into the bed, as ten minutes later the owner very apologetically told me I had been given a double room instead of a single one, so I was relocated to this one. No window or terrace, and just a skylight so I only had a view of the sky, but more than adequate for my needs (and I still had padded wallpaper).
Our dining room.
The library features a couple of crocodile skins.
Staircase up to the top level of the library.
To apologise to us for having to change rooms, Irene and I were given tea in one of the salons, along with the elephant tusks (No!) animal heads, (I was sitting under a tiger) and various animal skin rugs. Michael calls this salon the hunting room. The bus (and all the other pilgrims) didn't arrive until 6.30pm, so I felt very lucky to be able to rest my back and knee in these luxurious surroundings.
There is a chapel in the grounds (of course) and we celebrated Mass there as soon as the other tired pilgrims arrived. Michael had invited a young Polish pilgrim he had met along the way to join us. Sometimes I walk alone, which is very meditative, sometimes I walk with pilgrims from our group, and sometimes I walk with other pilgrims I meet along the way. Today I walked with a Belgian lady who is walking as part of a group for people with chronic illnesses (she has fibromyalgia). There are cyclists, people being pushed in wheelchairs and an 11 month old baby being pushed in his pram by his young parents.
"More than ever, the importance of silence in our contemporary, noisy world in which our minds get noisier, calls for this way of stillness and silence and speaks to us of a deep human need. Silence can unite with a bond that does not require words ...... Words can never equal the reality they are trying to express."
From Silence as Prayer (Dierdre Kelly) Milton Parish NSW, from Fr Michael's daily reflections.
Our Harvest info had listed today as a 13km walk, but this had included going from Palas de Rei to Melide (where we would have an included octopus lunch) by bus, and then walking on to Arzua. Val, our Spanish guide, offered this stage to us in optional sections: the whole distance (29kms) or one or more of four sections.
I was only geared up to walk 13kms, especially after having walked 20+ kms for each of the last three days, so I decided I'd be happy if I made it to the second check point, Melide (15km), and see how I felt then.
But no! After a few more twists and turns in the ancient village, we were out in open country once again, and there was the town of Melide at the top of a distant hill. Not only that, but the last kilometre or so was a steep, straight main road with not an ounce of shade. Once in the town, there were several bends, all revealing another uphill path. Seeing the Harvest bus, normally a moment of great exultation, was almost an anticlimax. The provided lunch of octopus (a specialty of the area) and salad was beautifully presented, but I have to admit I was too zoned-out to care.
Some of our group had already left to do one or both of the next two stages, and some had already come on the bus to Melide. I had had surgery on my right knee some time ago, and it has been perfect (thank you Pedram) but now my left knee is starting to hurt. I decided that I had achieved the minimum of what I had set out to do today, so wouldn't walk any further. There were only four others of us who wanted to do this, so Val suggested that we take a taxi straight to the hotel, as the bus would have to wait at both the next two checkpoints for everyone to finish.
Our taxi drove right through the town of Arzua and out into the country. Then it took a dirt track off the main road, and after a while around a wall and in through an arched gate and here was this magnificent building which took our breath away. This was our hotel! It is a stately home which is used as a hotel for part of the year.
We threw the staff into some confusion arriving early (it seemed at first that there wasn't a room for Marianne) but eventually we were all given keys. I was ushered into this magnificent room (with padded wallpaper).
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