Camino Pilgrimage Part 10 Caldas de Reis to Padron

Camino pilgrimage day 11. Up early and happy that I was feeling much better. Because the cold and runny nose from the previous few days had almost gone. Gabriella and I set off at 7:45 before the sun was up. We were soon out of the city and enjoying our walk along quiet lanes, through woods and small vineyards. Undulating countryside with low hills and gurgling streams flowing through gentle valleys.

The further North we walked, the less corn we saw. Most of the corn in this part of Spain was grown in tiny fields and harvested by hand for the owners’ use. Corn was ground for flour for cooking. Or for feeding the pigs, goats, donkeys or cattle that lived in the backyards of most houses.

We walked through woodlands of Eucalyptus, Pine, Oak and Chestnut trees. Eucalyptus trees becoming fewer as we moved into the colder, Northern parts of the country.

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Walking between more small cornfields, we came to a modern looking shelter next to a bridge over a stream. We stopped for a few minutes and were soon joined by a group of cyclists. Not pilgrims, just a group out for a good, long Sunday ride.

Then it was back onto narrow roads. Many old churches and some huge cemeteries with crypts stacked in 4 or 5 tiers. Fresh flowers in vases in little alcoves on some even on the top level. A long ladder and a good sense of balance would have been needed to place those flowers.

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Padron Last Town on Camino Pilgrimage

The final kilometre into Padron was along a river that had been channelled between retaining walls. As it was a Sunday, there was a huge open air market. Filled with stalls selling everything from food to religious icons stretching for hundreds of metres along the banks. There were crowds of locals and tourists making walking difficult. The narrow streets were crowded with pedestrians, cars, small trucks mopeds, bicycles and parents pushing babies in strollers. All threading their way through vehicles parked haphazardly in the streets.

Padron is a town of around 9000 inhabitants. Formerly known by its name of Iria Flavia, it was the place where St. James started his Christian Ministry and where his body was brought ashore after its journey from Jerusalem.

Looking at the shallow water in the river, it is hard to imagine that in the first millennium, ocean-going sailing vessels could reach Padron. It was at one time in the middle ages, an important shipbuilding yard for the Galician Navy.

Padron’s economy now relies on tourism and agriculture. For more information on this historic town, visit the Wikipedia page.

We arrived in Padron soon after midday. Gabriella wanted to stay at the same private hostel as on her previous visit. It was part of a small hotel with a very busy bar, and the cost was 15 euros, not bad but more than I wanted to spend so I said I would go and check out the municipal Albergue on the other side of the river.

Although I assured Gabriella that I would wait for her the next morning, I think she secretly thought I was tired of walking at her slow pace. Perhaps she was concerned that I would leave without her and press on to Santiago the next day. Whatever the reason she decided to come with me to the Albergue.

Padron Alburgue

Back over an old stone bridge and up the hill towards an ancient Carmelite convent to find the Albergue not yet open. We were 10th and 11th in line so we knew we would get a bed. A constant stream of pilgrims arriving. At 2 pm the hostel opened and we each paid our 6 euros for the night. It was fortunate that we had arrived early, the hostel was soon full.

We were shown into a huge dormitory with 24 double bunks. Gabriella took a bottom one and I decided that a top one might be quieter. It didn’t make much difference. Coughs, snoring and rustling mattresses from 48 sleeping pilgrims created quite a cacophony. However, as on previous nights in large dormitories, a good day’s walk and a glass of wine helped me sleep.

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The facilities at the Albergue were quite basic, only two showers, one toilet and one basin in the gents. No washing machine or drier, but the bed was comfortable and at 6 euros for the night, I was not complaining.

Kitchen facilities were also somewhat rustic but the fridge, microwave and stove worked so I could make tea. There were long tables to eat at.

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Gabriella wanted to rest. After organizing my sleeping sack and washing my shirt, I set off to explore the convent. I met Sabine, a German woman age 37 and an IT specialist who told me that 3 years earlier, she had taken 3 months to walk 1500 km on one of the French Camino routes to Santiago.

The terrace of the convent on the side of the hill provided a panoramic view of the town. It was comforting to think that many of the stone buildings, bridges and roads had been there for 2000 years and survived wars, invasions, floods. Had seen the lives and loves of hundreds of generations playing out like a never-ending drama production. Thousands before me making their own Camino pilgrimage through the same streets, over the same bridges and along the same roads.

Exploring Padron

I walked back over the bridge into the town centre, Similar to all the other towns and cities I had walked around on my journey, there were cafes, bars and restaurants everywhere. Some closed along with other shops at 2 pm for siesta but many stayed open. I saw a novel way (for me) to hide the sight and smell of garbage bins. A garbage collection truck reversed towards the corner of a building in the plaza where I was sitting at a table enjoying a coffee. It stopped quite a few metres from the building.

One of the men on the truck walked over to a panel on the side of the building, unlocked a little door and pressed a button. A 2 x 3 m section of paving behind the truck began rising above the courtyard surface. A platform with four “wheely bin” garbage cans came out of the ground. The workers wheeled them to the truck, they were lifted and emptied by the truck mechanism, put back on the platform and lowered back into the underground chamber which obviously connected to the adjacent buildings’ basements.

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After an afternoon of exploring, I went back to the hostel, collected Gabriella and found a restaurant with a pilgrim menu. A good meal of spaghetti bolognaise, coffee, wine and bread for 6.75 euro.

A Good Day

It had been a good day on my Camino pilgrimage, 18.76 km walked on the route in 4 hours 19 minutes. A few more kilometres around the town. A good meal and total expenses of 15.50 euro well under budget.

Santiago was only 25.6 km away. I could easily walk all the way in one day, but Gabriella was becoming increasingly nervous about having to give up again so close to the end. I was happy to have one more day of my Camino pilgrimage on the road so we planned an easy walk of 12 km to Faramello the next day.

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