Vilanova de Arousa – Pontecesures – Santiago de Compostela

Today at 8 am I took the boat at the maritime port of the Sea of Santiago heading for Pontecesures, on a 1h30 boat trip with breakfast on board.

I'm not cheating, the 1h30 boat trip is part of the spiritual variant. On this variant we make a 30 km detour from the normal route that is then made up for by this boat trip of the same distance.

At the start of the trip they explained the process the mussel goes through from when it's harvested from the rocks near the coast, when it's still very small, and then placed in boxes on the bottom of the Ria, which are tied to the various platforms you see in the Ria, for about 1 year, and which are then sorted again, with those that aren't yet the ideal size being put back on the bottom of the Ria for a while longer.

On the boat trip along the River Ulla we also passed 12 crosses that were placed along the way in honour of Santiago and some Viking boats that are used during the Viking festival of Catoira on 6 August.

Arriving at Pontecesures we began our walk to Teo, which was the stop initially planned. But when we got to the hostel it was full and rain was also forecast for the next day in Santiago, so we decided to keep walking to Santiago, on one of the longest stages, the same as the first day, of about 32 km along the paths of Santiago.

Along the way we stopped a few times to hydrate, eat, put cream on our faces and feet, and the tiredness was already showing.

We even took shelter about 5 km from Santiago in a café when the sky began to drizzle and thunder could be heard, but fortunately it was short-lived and we could continue walking.

It was already 7 pm when we finally arrived and we had a group of familiar pilgrims waiting for us, who had already arrived having taken the inland route and not the spiritual one we followed.

Then we went to the Mundo Albergue, where we found a place for €20 at the last moment, with the help of the pilgrims who came to welcome us at the Cathedral and who were already lodged there.

Then we all went for a drink and dinner at the Taberna do Gato Negro, where we ordered cuttlefish, mussels, octopus, squid, clams, chorizo, padrón peppers and, for dessert, cheese with quince jelly and Santiago tart.

We were all happy to have arrived, grateful for the Camino and for having crossed paths along the way, but at the same time already nostalgic that soon each of us would go our own way.