Day 10, Pola de Allande to La Mesa

-

Saturday, 12 September, 4.6 km

Today we take a taxi to Berducedo which was always planned because of the steep descent where this route rejoins the Hospitales route. From there we will walk to La Mesa where we have a booking for the night.

Our taxi driver arrived at the hotel just after the arranged time of 9.45 am but said he was going to have a coffee before taking us. This was fine by us, we are on Spanish time. 

The taxi trip through the mountains was spectacular. See Steve's photos below. How much more so if we were up to walking it.

We stopped for a coffee in Berducedo before walking on. A steep rocky ascent to begin but it then levelled out, hence the village name of La Mesa (the table).

We arrived here before noon and sat under the umbrellas with a cold drink while we waited for check-in and lunch at 1.30.

We had the Pilgrim lunch choosing the ensaladilla and the goat stew, with blanco vino.

We have a private room here with shared bathroom. €50. The room is quite cold even at 3 in the afternoon.  The stone walls are nearly half a metre thick. Luckily we have our sleeping bags as well as the provided blankets.


Getting a sello on our credential at the church of Santa Maria de Berducedo. The church was locked.
Someone had left their rosary there. It looked well used so hope they come back for it.
Still above the clouds as we descend to La Mesa.
At albergue Miguelin in La Mesa.
The Pilgrim menu.
We had the ensaladilla (small salad) of potato, smoked fish, vegetables in mayonnaise.
And the second course, goat stew. Caldereta de Cabra.

A mural in the entrance.
There a lots of these artworks which are done on pieces of slate all around the albergue.





Steve's photos from today:




I look grumpy but I wasn't 😊









No wonder he banged his head going upstairs to our room.
We went to the vigil Mass at the church of Santa Maria Magdalena. A small congregation of two locals and three pilgrims, plus the priest who gave us a special peregrina blessing in Spanish. He also gave us a brief version of his homily in English

.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Camino Primitivo, Oviedo, 31 August to 3 Sept 2026

-
Image
Arrived in Oviedo on Monday 31 August and staying at Longoria Plaza hotel near the centre of the city. Oviedo has a population of 200,000 so there is plenty to see. Tuesday morning went to the Cathedral to get our credentials stamped so that we can begin the Camino Primitivo on Thursday morning.  In the afternoon we walked halfway up Monte Naranco (elevation 634 metres) to the church of Santa Maria del Naranco, a world heritage site, consecrated in 848. A nice walk with good views. Unfortunately the church was closed but we enjoyed lunch in the Sideria (restaurant) nearby. The waiter Pedro was very proficient at pouring the cider in the traditional Asturian way. He didn't spill a drop. We didn't manage to get a photo but there are plenty of examples online. We may catch a bus up to the 30 metre high statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the top of Monte Naranco tomorrow. The following photo is a view of it from our walk today. Wednesday 2 September. We did catch a bus out to M...
Read more

Day 2, Escampiero to Grado

-
Image
 Friday 4 September 13.5 km The restaurant where we ate last night had kindly made us a bocadilla de queso (cheese sandwich) each as no breakfast options were available in this small town. We also had two kiwi fruit, a nectarine and roasted peanuts and almonds with us. We set off at 8.30 again this morning and stopped at the Chapel of Fatima where there were picnic tables and ate our breakfast there. We walked on to Premono and got a coffee at the albergue Cafe that was open. Steve also had  pain a chocolate so he must be getting his appetite back. On to Paladin where we took a short break by the river, and another break at Penaflor. Nothing open in either place but we had plenty of water and the roasted nuts.  We arrived in Grado/Grau around 1 pm, a bigger town, and we were able to get cold soft drinks and a tapa of tortilla on crusty bread. On to the albergue to check in, shower and rinse out our walking clothes. By the time we had done that it was past 3 pm and of cour...
Read more

Day 11, Vidago to Chaves

-
Image
Wednesday, 14 May We were intending this to be our final day of walking but we decided this morning that we couldn't face the thought of wading through another 20 or so large cold muddy puddles. Although the day was fine we know those puddles take a long time to dry out. So we caught the bus to Chaves, a lovely city. It is a shame we did not complete our planned walk as we were feeling fit and well and Vidago to Chaves is not a difficult section. However, we have done our best and are very pleased to have achieved as much as we have. After our experience with the cold days and puddly paths we would recommend September as a better time for the Portuguese Interior Camino. Today's photos are of Chaves. Discovered after I took the photo that these are all fake 🤥. It's obvious now I know. Tomorrow we leave Portugal and bus to Ourense in Spain, then train to Zamora and bus to Salamanca where we will have two nights. Back to Santiago de Compostela on Saturday for our flight to Lo...
Read more