Wednesday, May 8, 2013 -- Redondela to Pontevedra

The three guys in the top bunks snored all night long.  It was just awful.  To make matters worse, I had to keep getting up to use the bathroom.  Too many drinks last night ?  Although I could have slept a few more hours, I must say that I was overjoyed at the fact that I’d be leaving Redondela behind me !!!  The thought of never having to come back to this awful city made me smile.  Over anxious and eager to get out of town, I left the others behind and started walking.  There were no arrows along the cobbled streets and I had to rely on another pilgrim to show me the way.  Perhaps I should have kept walking with this lady because I ended up getting lost again and found myself going downhill into a small town by the sea.  Fortunately, a local farmer pointed out that I was going in the wrong direction.  The traffic in Arcade was horrendous but I managed to find my way to the Rio Verdugo where I had to cross the Ponte Sampaio.  It was built in 1795 over earlier foundations.  It was here that Galician forces defeated Napoleon’s troops during the War of Independence.  On the other side, I decided to wait for everyone else at a small café called A Romana.  It was nice to see everyone come across the bridge.  One unexpected pilgrim making the crossing on his bicycle was the Lithuanian man from last night—the one who was looking for a place to stay.  It turns out he was able to stay in a gymnasium in Redondela.  Lucky for him he had no one else in the place to keep him awake with loud snoring.  He told us that he was a student in Porto and was making a video of his pilgrimage to Santiago.  He was carrying a very small backpack covered with a yellow garbage bag to keep the contents dry.  I guess, all you need at his age is a video camera.  You can see part of his finished project HERE.  An entertaining video.  It was very nice walking today and eventually the sun came out allowing me to enjoy it even more.  I walked most of the way with Tommy and together we met some interesting pilgrims along the way.  We met a guy from Canada who now lives in Sweden of all places and has done the Camino many times with his friends.  Later, we met some Canadian women who were walking the Camino for their second time.  Tommy and I had a humorous conversation about the German Oktoberfest in Fredricksburg, Texas.  He mentioned that the sign read, “Deutsche Gemutlichkeit!” and so for the rest of the day we kept referring to all the nice things we saw along the way has having “German coziness”.  We waited for the others somewhere around the Capela de Santa Marta near Figueirido and walked together into the beautiful town of Pontevedra.  I wasn't too sure it would be so nice after seeing all of the spray paint.  Needing a good night’s sleep we called ahead to book some rooms at the Casa Alicia—a very nice place in the center of town.  Once we settled in, it was time to look for a nice place to have dinner and explore the town.  Whereas I was more interested in visiting all the sights, I think Frank was more interested in finding a place that served coffee and tarte de Santiago, everyone’s favourite treat along the Camino as you get closer and closer to Compostela.  This is the Iglesia de la Virgen Peregrina, one of the most symbolic and important buildings in Pontevedra.  Its construction begain in 1778 and, according to tradition, is dedicated to the Virgin who led the pilgrims from Byonne to Santiago.  Pontevedra is a delightful city with many old buildings and large open squares called “prazas”.  One of them is the Praza de Ourense with the Convento de San Francisco overlooking the shops, cafes and restaurants.  The Convento de San Francisco dates from the 13th century but all that remains of the original construction is the Romanesque façade.  Inside are sarcophagi from the 15th century and those of Paio Gómez Chariño (poet and admiral of the navy) and his wife.   The Ruínas del Convento de Santo Domingo was a very interesting place to visit with all of its old tombs and statuary.  We found a good placet to eat dinner but we were quite taken back with the portion size (very small) and the unbelievable price (very high).  Something has to give...we've been hiking for almost two weeks and we've yet to find an restaurant with reasonable prices.  Spent the rest of the night having drinks and eating tapas in quite a few different bars around town.