Castañeda, Galicia, Spain
Tuesday, July 14, 2015

(The elevation maps below cover the walks for the next three days)

Normally I would say we had a hearty breakfast and were on our way. But today I have more details for you. We came down for breakfast promptly at 7 and found that the kitchen table was laid for 8 people. So there were other occupants, they had gone elsewhere for dinner last night and were quiet (camino walkers usually have a sound sleep, it is unlikely you will hear any noise except for snoring, maybe). Two of the couples were from Australia and we had met them several times on the camino and exchanged 'Buen Camino' greetings. The third couple were locals. The table was laden with toast, homemade butter, preserves, juice, café, cured meats, cheese etc. The main item that we all relished was the handcrafted and individually prepared poached eggs with caramelized onions and potatoes. It was heavenly! We said our goodbyes and left for Castaneda.

Today’s walk was not difficult, just very long. We passed forests of pine, oak, eucalyptus, birch, fields and stables. We seemed to pass small hamlets every few minutes, so food and drink were not a problem! Our first stop was at Casa de Somoza, made famous by the movie ‘The Way’. We had an excellent café and snack here and continued on our way. Our next stop was at Melide, a medieval town that has been serving pilgrims for hundreds of years. It is home to the Church of Santa Maria and San Pedro and several museums. The people here are very friendly and helpful. Melide is famous for its octopus, sweet cakes and pastries. As you enter the city, several ‘pulperias’, where octopus is served, try to hustle customers in. We politely declined. But we did stop for a café and a delicious pastry before we continued on our way to Castaneda. Our hotel in Castaneda was off the camino track, so it took us an extra couple of km of walking to get there. We arrived at Rural Casa Milia and found a note taped to the door asking us to go to the house across the street where the casa owner lived. We did that and a middle aged, jolly and robust woman came up to the Casa, opened the door and let us in. The Casa grounds were sprawling, shaded and ‘decorated’ with traditional farm paraphernalia. Our room was large, well ventilated and the views were spectacular. We showered, relaxed and I walked around the Casa for a while. It didn’t seem like there was anyone else around. We had requested dinner at 7 pm, so we came downstairs promptly at 7. A pleasant young lady ushered us into a formal dining room where the table was set for the two of us and another table was set for one. So there was one other guest in the Casa! We were looking forward to meeting this gentleman/gentlelady! The food was simple yet delicious and came in generous portions. We had Galician broth, ensalada and beef stew, almond cake with red wine and orujo to wash it all down. The lone guest arrived around 7:30 and we exchanged greetings. He seemed like a pleasant loner, so we left him alone. After dinner, we explored the grounds and then reluctantly went to bed.