I love the song of the same name by Crowded House, but today we’ve experienced exactly that.
Yesterday we walked 15klms, (or was it 18klm? 20klm? we’ll never know..), from Melide to Arzúa. The walk was quite easy in comparison to other earlier experiences, but still included some significant hills. Have I mentioned that we are just a little bit over hills, or anything remotely related, now? A lovely stroll downhill into a tiny village, prettily nestled in a valley, is now viewed with trepidation, since the only way out is up!
Halfway through my walk yesterday, I had a lovely conversation with my sister, Deb, who arrived in Spain on the 25th April and commenced her walk in Pamplona, a beautiful city, famous for the running of the bulls. She is walking a different route to us, with a group of friends, but they have no intention of reaching Santiago, it’s just about the walk for them, with an aim of around 250klms. I’m looking forward, once we’ve both finished, to talking again and comparing notes. It will be interesting to share our experiences..the good, the bad and the ugly!
The landscape through which we are now walking has altered somewhat, with houses now not invariably stone built, rather the majority are very brightly painted. Still charming, but very obviously different to what we had become accustomed to. Maybe it is a regional thing, as we are now in Coruña and no longer in Lugo, but both are within the larger department of Galicia.
I’d woken up a few times during last night and it was pouring rain. This morning, it was still raining, so the weather we had been hoping to avoid has finally caught us up. It was also absolutely freezing. For a short while, the sun came out and looked like it might stay that way for the rest of the day, but no, within an hour it was pouring rain again, with hail and gale force winds. The bright sunshine and blue skies, followed by periods of the thunder/rain/hail/wind combo and freezing temperatures continued throughout the rest of the day.
We have become, we think, quite the authority on dress standards on the Camino. In particular, rain ponchos. We saw some optimistic pilgrims walking today without any rain protection at all. In fact, one hardy soul was just in shorts and a polar fleece jacket. Brrrr! Several had umbrellas, which, while one step up from shorts, offered virtually nil protection from the prevailing weather conditions. Varying types of rain poncho were seen and we had our own very protective poncho’s packed ( purchased at the Army Disposal store in Adelaide), but the ‘pièce de resistance’ was a lady sporting an ankle length maroon number, with hood and full length elasticised sleeves, which covered almost all of her, including her backpack as well. Clever woman.
Thankfully, the central heating was on at our Hotel O’Pino, at Rúa, when we arrived. A beautiful little country inn again, very comfortable and, thankfully, warm. Rúa is only a tiny town, but we did manage to take advantage during one short, sunny period, to try and see what it offered.We only managed a 10 minute walk, before the weather set in again with a vengeance, but not before we found Casa do Acrivo. Several hours, plus a few coffees and hot chocolates later, held to ransom by the changeable weather conditions, we were still there, but had a great time chatting to the very friendly locals, who had also bunkered down, due to the weather. Ana, the lady serving at the bar, could speak French (she’d lived in Paris for 8 years) so I was able to have a lovely conversation with her. She was so kind too, and offered to drive us back to our hotel, since it looked like we may have been stranded there forever, otherwise.
So I’m here now on my comfy bed, tapping away and gazing out the window to gorgeous countryside, currently bathed in sunlight, but with those ominous clouds rolling in.
Walking in freezing temperature is one thing, but this 4 seasons in one hour palaver, let alone one day, is quite another!
Our planned walk to Lavacolla tomorrow, is only approximately 10 klms, so if we can just manage a few hours of sunshine in the morning, we’ll should be able to make it without bearing the brunt of the arctic conditions of today. The following day, Tuesday 2nd May, is our arrival day in Santiago (yay!) and is also only about 10 klms, so please, please, please Camino angels, let us have good walking weather, just for 2 more days!
Fingers crossed!!!
PS. Pinch and a punch, everyone!
postcardsfromkaren 