El Duo Camino - Day One

Thank you Sarria and Rectoral Goain! 🧡✝

At the start of our walk in Sarria. We started climbing steps, little did we know that we would be climbing for the next five hours.

Some of our views along THE WAY. We knew we would be walking in the countryside of Galicia but what we didn’t know was that it was going to be so mountainous. Luckily the morning was in the 60s but that didn’t last long.

No matter how high the elevation, we always came across a communal peregrino stop. It could have been a bar for a cold beer, cafe for light food, or a Galician family opening their home offering whatever they had cooked. It humbled us when we asked for two bottled waters and how much it would cost and the elderly gentleman, responded with, “Donativo”…a donation. Today’s hike was 14 miles up and down very steep, rocky mountains. The map above indicates we were half way to Portomarin.

Finally, we get a view of Portomarin from a distance. These steps though were not our friend.

We finally made it to Portomarin. It didn’t matter that we had to cross a bridge in 80+ degree whether, we had finally made it to our next destination. As Bibi always says, God has a sense of humor. We never knew getting into Portomarin meant climbing steps the same way when we left Sarria on our way here. At this point, the pain and aches are no joke and this is only day one.

Ignorance is bliss! We thought we would be walking flat roads today and burn about 800 calories. Oh boy! were we wrong.

Here’s how we rewarded ourselves when we arrived at Portomarin. Cold beer, tabla mixta, bread, croquetas caseras and pulpo a la plancha.

We would love to tell you how charming and rustic this place is but we’re not. Instead, we will share how beautiful the grounds are and the views amazing. However, there’s no AC and it’s freaking HOT and not with two t’s (Hurricane Andrew vibes) but we figured this is part of the journey…right???

Our next stop is Palas de Rei. It’s about an 18 mile walk through mountains.🤦‍♀️ We can’t feel our feet, the heat has us delirious but we are looking forward to day two. Pray for us that we have AC tomorrow.

No matter the heat, no matter the pain, you feel God’s presence here. ✝