following the shells: day 1 walking- Sarria to Portomarin

All dressed up and ready to go outside our little hotel in Sarria

Pausing already on the first hill in Sarria!

We awoke next morning to more rain, typical of what we would call a "soft day" here in Ireland! We decided we would start off together with a view to stopping at Barbadelo for some coffee (for those of us not quite ready for breakfast at 8) and then take a lunch break at Morgade,

leaving Sarria

just a little short of the half way mark to Portomarin. The walk to Portomarin is very scenic and the sun even came out for a while. The main advantage of the cooler temperatures was that it made walking a little easier however once you stopped and sat down you became really cold very quickly especially if you removed the backpack!
I had memories from my previous camino in hot weather in 2012 of being absolutely exhausted on arriving at the bridge in Portomarin only to be confronted by the famous "steps" into the town.
The long downhill stretch into Portomarin challenges the strongest of knees but this time I had enough energy to climb the steps, even though I was the last of our family group to arrive there.
We all checked in to our delightful accommodation where I decided to check my phone and lo and behold there was a message from my friend who had walked ahead earlier in the day to let me know she had left a small package for me at the foot of the steps in a blue bag.
On our last camino she had done me a great kindness by bringing me water to the steps when I was severely dehydrated. This time I was able to return to the foot of the steps, collect the package with the water and her lovely message and then walk back up again. I am very fortunate to have such a good friend.

arriving at the Portomarin bridge with second son