10 hours-30.1 km
We started out in the dark, in the rain, and straight uphill. It was up and down hills all day and it rained off and on most of the day.
Some of the walk was along the roadside and through an industrial area going into the town of Melide.
But we walked through Eucalyptus forests off and on all day. And what a wonderful pungent fragrance it was.
Synthetic sports fabrics are marvelous. They are very lightweight, dry in a flash, easy to wear and durable. However they do hold body odor. And after 30 days of hand washing, no matter how diligent and thorough a job you do; in this humid, rainy climate of Galicia, you can smell the body odor at the first sign of dampness.
So, after 3 days or rain and dampness, today was a pleasure walking through the fragrant eucalyptus forests.
The above time for walking is a bit skewed because of 2 delays.
When the girls arrived in the airports of Madrid and Santiago, they tried to exchange dollars for euros, but unfortunately both airports money exchange systems were not functioning.
Today has been the first day we were in a town big enough to have a bank, and us being here during banking hours. I'll skip all the boring details and just say that after 1 1/2 hours, several banks and ATMs only one girl ended up with euros. It was very frustrating and a delay we did not need.
The second delay was when we had just stopped at a bar for a coffee break and no sooner had we ordered our coffee, we turned around to see that outside there was a torrential downpour that lasted over 30 minutes.
Heidi and Ellen were delighted to have such a long break but as soon as it slowed down we had to move on.
We walked in the rain for several hours more until we got to our destination.
It was a very long, very exhausting day, but so joyful and so rewarding in so many ways.
The girls did well and after yesterdays dingy hostal and cold showers they wanted to stay at a hotel.
So we 4 are cozily settled in a nice hotel room tonight and it is still pouring out.
Ron and the girls are downstairs in the bar having a well deserved bottle of wine.
Blessings to all
Rita
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Hi, You are lucky I guess that your weather has been as good as it has been so far---until today. Sorry about all of the rain and the delays. Hopefully tomorrow will be much better.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying a hotel tonight.
Hugs,
Betsy
You have been really lucky with the weather up until today so how wonderful is it that you get to stay in a real hotel? Might be worth sloshing around all day after all.
ReplyDeleteSounds like today was full of great stories to tell when you return: the ongoing quest for euros, torrential rains, free deoderant provided by nature, and whatever happened after the bottle of wine was consumed!(although I suppose no dancing on top of the bar was physically possible--more likely is all were dragged to bed?? Funny mental image at that thought).
ReplyDeleteOops, Deodorant.
ReplyDeleteHi Auntie Rita,
ReplyDeleteYou all deserve wine, a hot shower, and a comfy bed. Celebrate your day with many laughs and a good night sleep. Love Amelia
Hi Mom! How nice to stay in a hotel again. Heidi and Ellen are having such a good time, even though the walking has been difficult. It was so great to get Dad's voicemail! Enjoy your last days of walking!! Love, Susan
ReplyDeleteHi again, tell Heidi we are having Thursday night dinner at her house. Miss you all, Susan
ReplyDelete