Day 7 - Palas de Rei to Arzua

 

Palas de Rei to Arzua

Day 7 - Friday, April 17 - 38527 steps

I woke up early and left before dawn.  My blisters were still really sore.  The new socks didn't help much since the damage was already done.  Taping them up helped, but not much.

I discovered that walking slowly and deliberately helped.  The repetitive movement seemed to help settle me into a rhythm where they were less painful.  I think that it was a case of my brain realizing that there was nothing it could do so it just turned down the volume of the pain messages.  It was still there thought.  I felt every step but it was just background noise.

I ate breakfast as I walked - fruit from the grocery store last night.  It was a calm, quiet and very misty morning

After an hour or so I came to San Xuliane and found a cafe.  I walked in and discovered Angela and Anna sitting there having breakfast!  I ordered my coffee and joined them to catch up on things.  They had stayed in an alberge here instead of in Palas de Rei.

I left while they went back to their room to pack up.  I supplemented my breakfast some more along the way with a pain au chocolat.  They are REALLY good in Spain - not heated, but not cold either.  And the chocolate is soft and runny, not a hard lump like in Canada.

I stopped for lunch in Furelos at a little place called Mason a Ponte - near a stone bridge over the Furelos River.  I had paella with shrimp and it was incredible!

My route continued through Melide,
which was another fairly big city, similar to Sarria.

I stopped a little while later by a pond and stretched out on a cement bench.  And actually fell asleep for a little while.

Starting up again was always a painful process now.  It would take a few minutes of slow, deliberate walking for my feet to figure things out and my brain to quiet the pain signals.

I met a couple of young Americans and walked with them for a bit.

We came to Ribadiso and bridge over a stream.  A few people had stopped to soak their feet.  So I did the same and the cold water on my feet felt wonderful!

A short walk up a long hill and I found Albergue Miraiso for a coffee and some rest.

And not much further after that was Arzua and the albergue municipal for the night.