Barbadelo (Sarria) to Portomarin

Last night I had dinner with an Australian lady who had come straight from Gallipoli. She said there had been 80,000 in the ballot for 2,000 Aussie places and somehow she had been lucky. She showed me pics of Prince Harry mingling with the crowds, and said that Prince Charles had made the best speech. The event lasted 14 hours, or all night till the dawn service.  There were 700 coaches to deliver everyone to the peninsula and it was freezing! Not an event for me, I think!

The Casa Barbadelo had a sewing machine museum. (See below!). Raining again this morning as we all set off.  The Camino is getting busier by the minute. Many people start here to get their Credential after walking the last 100 kms. I photographed a 12th C. church which I remembered from a previous trip.

The rain kept coming and the bars en route were full of pilgrims dripping and steaming. The cyclists were covered in mud. The track was squelchy with cow manure. Dairy farms on all sides. No wonder JL has no sense of smell:  his body must have shut down that sense early on!

Later...  Having finally arrived in Portomarin I located my hotel, the Portomino,I checked in and had a hot bath! It had been a long day, ending with the bridge over the reservoir and the steep staircase into the old town.  I celebrated with my first G and T of this trip on a bar overlooking the main square and the church of San Juan, an early 13th century building, famous for its size and carving for this period.