CAMINO TO THE SEA - DAY 1: SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA to NEGREIRA

 We got up this morning and headed out hiking again! You thought we were done, but we are heading for Muxia on the Atlantic coast. I am calling this our "Post-Camino Vacation" (ha, ha, ha). It is a walk of an additional 54 miles (more or less). We will do it over the course of four days. Today's hike was a little over 14 miles. It was a little challenging with a lot of uphill and downhill. Through it all we went through some beautiful countryside. Here is what we saw...

From the Plaza do Obradoiro in front of the Cathedral you take this street that leads to the point where you begin to measure the kilometers to either Muxia or Fisterra (both 0 kilometer points on the Atlantic). Below is Jannette at the marker ready to go!

Like many places along the Camino the way stretches along deeply carved out or walled areas like the one below.

or through beautiful groves of trees.

Early in the hike you walk through a grove of oaks. These slow-growing trees are in some cases a couple of hundred years old.

After getting to the top of one of these wooded hills we turned to in the direction of the arrow that points the way. I turned to my left and this was the sight: A magnificent view of the Cathedral in the distance!

We continued through groves of trees along wide paths.

Every once in a while we would enter a small town with a mix of old and modern structures.

With all of the spring runoff the streams were running strong.

Below is a funny, yet common type of signage. The Camino turned down a narrow street lined with houses. At the beginning it had the sign that indicated that there are people walking, children playing outside their houses, and traffic. At the end the same sign made it clear that all these things had come to an end (and implied that you could ignore them from that point forward!)

We continued along and just as we were about to begin a steep climb I noticed this little bridge known as the Ponte de Augapesada and bridges the Rego dos Pasos River. To get the picture I had to go into a person's yard. The bridge was built sometime during the 17th or early 18th century. Originally built to accommodate pilgrims on the original Camino that came down from O Lombao, it was abandoned yet remains today as a memorial of the Camino's place in the history of the area.

The climb up the very steep hill took us again through some amazing groves of trees.

After finally reaching the top (a climb of over 2 miles) we began our descent with views of the valleys around us.

The highlight was arriving at Ponte Maceira (13th century). Here is a legend that you might find interesting. In one of the stories, the disciples of Santiago were looking for a place to bury the body of the saints decapitated body. At the time they were being pursued by Roman legionnaires. The disciples managed to reach a bridge that stood at this place and cross it. When the Romans attempted to follow them, the bridge collapsed by "divine" intervention allowing the disciples with the body of their master to escape.

In the late 12th century, a battle took place at this site between men who supported Diego Gelmírez, the first Archbishop of Compostela, and troops under the command of Pedro Frólaz de Traba and his sons Fernando Pérez de Traba and Bermudo Pérez de Traba. The battle centered around control of the Tambre River that bordered lands held by both groups.

The Tambre River as it rushes towards the Ponte Maceira.

Next to the river is a private manor house known as Pazo de Baladrón built in the 1940s. It remains a private residence.

More trees and more path! This is leaving Pontemaceira and heading towards Negreira. We still have another hill to climb after this lovely stretch of the Camino.

As we reached the top of the hill that then led us down to Negreira we noticed this estate. Impressive!

Below is the Pazo do Cotón in Negreira. The origins of the structure are from the 12th century and were most likely part of a medieval fortress. With the decline in the feudal system the castle was converted into a manor house (pazo), probably during the 15th century. From the 17th through the 19th centuries renovations expanded the manor to its current size.

And next to it is the Capilla de San Mauro.

Our hotel, Casa do Folgo, is several kilometers outside of Negreira. It is a lovely country house owned by Juan and Angeles. Our friend who arranged our housing felt that we would enjoy some quiet country time. We were picked up in the plaza above and will be dropped off her tomorrow morning to begin our hike to Santa Mariña. Angeles will then pick us up in Santa Mariña and take us back to the hotel. The next morning she will take us back to Santa Mariña so that we can hike to Dumbría. We won't complain since we have great hosts and a beautiful countryside experience.

I don't know that you can beat the view!

Until tomorrow....