Marching to the river

 We are doing another day of dodging on and off streetview. This may vex but what should delight is that we have a vending machine to review. The machine is in Moimentos and has had 11 reviews. Eugene gives one of the lowest rating.




‘I finally found a place where I could take a rest and get stamps inside.
-renew-
Originally it was five stars, but then I noticed there were flies in the coffee and had to give it three stars…’
Parrocha has a whole restaurant. It is described as LGBTQ+ friendly and Brandon Fuentes reports 5 stars. ‘I loved stopping here. The staff were very nice helped me a great deal when I needed a break on the Camino. We talked and swapped stories about Hamburgers, and Route 66!’
Brandon uses the image from the cover of Hobbe’s Leviathan for his icon. Alas, he has written 5 reviews, but the other four are not on his profile.

We end the day descending into the valley of the Minho. This River is not the Minho which is the longest one in Jamaica but 340km affair which almost bisects Galicia. It will mark the Portuguese border.
The bridge, Ponte Nova de Portomarin, has a trip advisor presence. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g676304-d10218475-Reviews-Ponte_Nova-Portomarin_Province_of_Lugo_Galicia.html
 According to Mark ‘Amazing views of River Miño which was dammed downstream at Belesar. General Franco ordered the villager's to leave so they moved to the town's most important buildings stone by stone to where it is today. When the river is low you can see remains of the old Portomarín. There's an amazing colony of Craig Martin's that nest under the bridge. A great sight and relief for pilgrims at end of tough stage from Sarria.’



Tomorrow, Pontomarin.



Like
Comment
Share

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Much a do about something

Image
  In North Lincolnshire there is an OS square which is all but empty,  In a single corner stretches a few metres of power cables to spoil the virgin whiteness.  Today’s walk is not so blessed with flat calm.  We will see trees.  We will see ups.  Views are compulsory.  Houses aren’t.  Let's talk about Asturias in the years from 718 to 757. In 711 the full force of the Islamic tide swept from North Africa into Visigothic Spain. At the Battle of Guadalete King Roderic and much of the nobility were killed and the Iberian Peninsula collapsed before the all conquering crescent.  The thing is, Asturias is a long way from the main body of Spain. It is a bit wet and more to the point lacking the plunder which was the way of paying the Army of the Conquest.  The Caliphate’s hold on Asturias was tenuous to say the least.  Enter  Pelagius. Pelagius has many myths swirling around him and a very butch Victorian statue in Gijon.  Accord...
Read more

In which a Roman Bridge and a Funeral Parlour are reviewed.

Image
  We are rising again. We are rising 20 of your earth metres today. We will be 818m above the level sea. We are about at the highest point in the Cheviot Hills. We cross the Rio Porma and into Villarente and Puente Villarente. Both these twin settlements, lurking along the roadside, have generally grown in size since 2000.   https://www.turismocastillayleon.com/en/art-culture-heritage/great-routes/way-saint-james/puente-villarente First we must cross the Roman Bridge. Coyotuco is back with a five star review: A beautiful BRIDGE with a lot of history but it is not PEDESTRIAN. For pedestrians they have made a PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY right next to it. We are passing by the Artesanias Luyma so let us gaze at their ceramic goodness. Let us wonder  https://www.artesaniasluyma.com/categorias/pereruela/ While we are here and we are passing the Tanatorio Camino de Santiago let us visit this 39 reviewed funeral home. It gets an average of 4.9 stars.  https://www.antamontalvo.es/esq...
Read more

Cows are important, rain is ubiquitous

Image
  We are descending into the route to the coast. It is the point of all this wandering.  It is a bit British in terms of small lanes and odd turns,  We are on one of many of the camino routes for a bit of this.  We will pass one of the many tiny bus shelters on these lanes. I think I got a clue as to the weather when walking into a cafe in Gijon and noticed an umbrella stand.  Gijon gets 955mm of rain a year.  Santiago gets 1855mm.  London only gets 557mm. We will pass nearby Iglesia de San Juan de Castromaior.   I honour Pablo Pardo Lamela who gives it five stars for the reason ‘ Because I live here’.  The church was built in the 16th century on the site of an old fort. It has an 18th century baroque altarpiece.  We are now in Lugo province.  Apparently these devout Christians remember the Celtic god Lugh in this name. The place has about a third of a million people living here.  The population peaked in 1940 with over 540,000...
Read more