Day Ten - Caldas de Reis to Padron

Today was Good Friday, and the second last day of our walk. The walk itself was perhaps one of the most enjoyable so far. After four days of walking the group has found it's optimum walking strategy, getting up early and making up as much ground before it get's too hot later in the day. This strategy was supplemented by the delightful fact that the day was extremely misty for the entire walk. This meant conditions remained cool, which was far more conducive to good walking pace than the recent hot and dry weather. It also helped that the day was relatively short, only 17 kilometres. 

The walk passed through large amounts of mature woodland with few towns along the route. While
walking the group played games of I spy and guess who, which were thoroughly enjoyed by all and helped passed the time. When not doing this we appreciated the majestic scenery, which was quite hilly and covered in forest, enhanced by the foggy atmosphere. Most of us agreed that today was almost certainly the most beautiful day of the walk so far. In one of the small towns we passed through was a small church. Here we viewed the church's stations of the cross and read from the bible the story of Jesus' sentencing to death. As is traditional we waited until 3 o'clock, after arrival at the hotel in Padron, to complete the reading with the section where Jesus is crucified. It is symbolically very interesting that the penultimate day of our trek comes on the same day as the penultimate act of Jesus' life.

At around 2 pm we crossed the bridge across the river that separated the town of Pontecesures from our destination of Padron, and several minutes later found the hotel. Padron is small town, renowned for it's authors and hot peppers!  At the end of the day all members of the group were exhausted. However we continue to look forward to tomorrow, the last day of the walk, the completion of our pilgrimage and the achievement of something very few people will ever accomplish.

Bueno Camino