stapf, stapf VIII - Pontevedra

The alarm clock rings - it's seven o'clock and still completely dark - there are still stars in the sky ⭐️⭐️

Getting up is a bit difficult 😀

Well, let's go - we have a longer way to go to Pontevedra - the capital on the Camino de Portugues. Many pilgrims have always stopped here and according to the descriptions, it is supposed to be a beautiful path. 

And besides, since last year, the Laborschule has had a partner school in Pontevedra 😀 our students were already here in November for the introductory visit. So you could say I am also following in the footsteps of the partner city of the school 😀

Today's description did not promise too much / we walked along really beautiful paths and found nice places to rest. Since Tui, it is noticeable that we are now on the last 100 km to Santiago - more and more people are coming 🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿🚶🏿

We also meet familiar faces again - today the cyclists are extreme 🚴🏻🚴🏻🚴🏻 

quite a few and they ride - no, they race down the very bumpy paths or struggle up steep mountains!

I prefer to walk 😀 it looks super exhausting. 

We are making good progress today, it is not as warm as in Portugal and so we can walk for 2 hours without the backpack getting too heavy 😀

Entering Pontevedra was a bit annoying though.... 

3 km along the road, even on the pilgrim path, was not so easy. 

At some point, we reached the first roundabout and we were there - hm, did we overlook the entrance sign of the town? I wanted to take a photo for the Laborschule, showing that I walked all the way to Pontevedra 😀

Well, a picture of the train station was enough.

We found our hostel very quickly thanks to Google Maps and looked forward to the shower 😀

It's a good thing we had pre-booked again, familiar faces from the road were still wandering around looking for a place to stay. 

After the refreshing shower, doing laundry and resting a bit, we went to the old town. It is very beautiful - small streets, many bars and taverns, and even its own pilgrim church. 

Pontevedra is the capital on the Portuguese pilgrimage route and has fully adapted to pilgrims 😀

There are a lot of people in the squares and streets - after the rather quiet hike, it's a change in terms of the noise level 😀

And we have to wait for a very long time before we can eat - the restaurants serving main dishes only open at 8 pm - that's really tough. Until then, there are only snacks everywhere 😒 

So we wait and have a drink, and then the three Canadian women we met yesterday come around the corner. We sit together, chat and wait together 😀 

Nancy and Lutz: the three of them are from Ontario 😀

It's a funny bunch and we take them to the typical Galician restaurant that was recommended to us. The cheese and the omelette are delicious - unfortunately, the octopus is not - according to the Canadians 😒 

Full of experiences from the day and well-fed, we realize that we are now tired and say goodbye to the three women. We will definitely see them again 😀 

When we arrive at the hostel, our key doesn't fit - oh no 😒

Anne then has a great idea - she opens one of the corridor windows and behold, it's across from the hostel kitchen, where thankfully someone is still sitting - we are let in and now happily lie in bed 😀

P.S. Sorry, the images are taking a long time to load - the network is not that good again - will continue tomorrow - good night ⭐️🌙