Samos and On....or not!

Our arrival in Samos was extremely welcome. We wanted nothing more than a very hot shower and a drink to warm the spirit. On the advice of some biking Spaniards who we had been seeing along our journey, they recommended a lovely casa rural for our night´s stay. These casas are very similar to our bed and breakfast and this one in particular was quite lovely.

We went exploring through the tiny town, whose main focus is a beautiful monastery located in the center of town. As we were walking around, there seemed to be quite a bit of local traffic. The people were dressed to the nines and we quickly surmised there was a wedding at the church next to the monastery.

We continued our explorations and found a tiny chapel. A guide inside explained that it dated back to the 9th century! She filled us in on many of the details of the chapel which was quite simple in its design.

Paul and I decided to go to dinner, but in the meantime, I found an internet local to post and so he had a couple of beers while I wrote my tome of the day. As I was crossing the street to join him, I ran into the four Spanish gentlemen and they asked where we were dining. I pointed to the little bar, which was very working class, and they absolutely insisted we dine where they were headed. It seems the four belong to a bicycle club, of which they are the only four members. They had biked part of the camino 11 years ago and were now completing the last leg of the journey.

We had an extremely enjoyable dinner. There was a lot of food, a lot of laughs and a lot of drinks. As Jose said, Spaniards live to eat! Again, after dinner, there was an argument as they would not allow us to pay for dinner. They insisted. Upon comparing notes, we were headed to the same end destination the next day and Paul insisted he was taking them out to dinner. The evening was late and it was time to turn in.

The morning was cloudy when we left, which made for good biking weather. We followed the road out of town for a while and then decided to follow the camino. It was absolutely spectacular scenery that wound through tiny little farm hamlets. Galicia is very green and also wet. Part of the day was spent in a fine mist but it was not too bad. Although the riding was enjoyable, it was also hard work. Some of the trails appeared to be nothing more than paths for the heavy rain. They were heavily filled with large stones so it was a lot of walking and pushing again. Our morning took a lot longer than expected and we were falling behind schedule. To top it off, Paul had a slow leak in his tire. We kept stopping to pump it up until we could find a cafe or bar for lunch. We finally found one and Paul changed the tire.

Because the trip had been enjoyable but very slow, we found the road and headed into Portomarin. We made a few wrong turns. A yellow arrow usually marks the path of Santiago, but a lot of times it´s like playing "Where´s Waldo" and trying to find that darned yellow arrow. We finally coasted in Portomarin but decided to push on so as to make up some time.

The morning´s ride, however, took its toll on my legs. Rather, I guess the two previous day´s rides had done me in. The ride out of Portomarin was straight up hill and my legs could no longer peddle. I had to push my bike up even the slightest hill. To top it off it soon started raining. With my legs screaming to quit and the rain drenching us, we continued to push on very slowly. Paul would ride ahead and wait at the top of the climb and then gravity would take us down hill. In order to get to our next stop, we still had a long way to go. On those climbs up the hill, my mind kept screaming for us to stop and yet we continued. We finally arrived in Melide, drenched, cold and exhausted. My only thought was a hot bath and bed. Paul went to meet our Spanish friends for dinner. I begged off and after a good hot soak and a muscle relaxant and pain reliever, I promptly went to sleep.

Paul came in later and told me they had a wonderful time at dinner. More later about this later as we are trying to make it to Santiago in a timely manner.