I decided that my backpack was a little on the heavy side for a pleasant hike so set off to the post office to enquire whether it was possible to send a package to the post office in Santiago to collect on my arrival. On the Camino Frances through Spain this is a service advertised in all the Correos (Post offices) and even in some albergues. They will send your belongings to be held at the Central Post Office near to Santiago Cathedral for a fee of about 15 euros for approximately 5kg, and keep it there for free for 15 days, with a nominal fee of 1 euro a day for any further time needed. The guys at the Portuguese Post Office didn’t know about any such service and seemed a little worried that if they posted my stuff there and I didn’t arrive for 2 or 3 weeks it might all just be sent straight back to them…. They were very kind and said that they would take a package and post it in a week or two to make sure it did not arrive too early. This ,meant leaving with no receipt or details but the assistant said I must trust her so trust her I did! I sent it to Correos, Rúa do Franco 4, Local 1, 15702 Santiago de Compostela and left my email address, asking them to send me a tracking number when they officially posted it on but they seemed very casual and so I won’t hold my breathe on receiving that. They thought I’d just need to show my passport and the package would be located and handed over to me. will let you know how that goes….

Next stop was a stroll through the beautiful town of Porto, up and down the higgledy piggledy streets, and I mean, seriously up, and seriously down. It is a huge maze of a town. Beautiful! Quaint tiled buildings and balconies galore. I made my way to the cathedral, picking up a stamp in my credential along the way!

I had read in my Brierly guidebook that there was a donitivo albergue, the N. S. do Rosario de Vilar, (tel: 910 n274 982 Casa Diocesana, Rua Arcediago Vanzeller 50. It was a little over 1km from the Cathedral but a complicated journey! If you decide to head here you may want to get google maps up. I went for old fashioned directions of the locals but took a while to find it and probably didn’t take the most direct route. I had read it had just 12 beds in 2 rooms and wanted to aim for the smaller albergues in the hope of finding some charming, characterful accommodation, and Rosario de Vilar did not disappoint.

The address given was a large seminario were you head to book in and get your credential stamped and pick up your key. The donitivo turned out to be 7euro 50 but still very reasonable for the big city. The hospitlero (helper) gave me a key and direction to head down the street, through a giant metal gate, across a car park, down several flights of external stairs and there I would find the albergue! The walk in gave me great views over the river and the city and the place itself was cute – a small traditional stone house with a communal kitchen/dining area, a small upstairs bunk room and bathroom and some

sleeping quarters and a bathroom down in the basement. There was pretty green grounds and interesting views of the city and allotments. I took advantage of being the only person here to get some hand washing done and out to dry in the still bright sun of late afternoon.

I’d say this is a good place to stay if you want to be a bit off the beaten track but the kitchen facilities were basic, (an electric hob with one working burner and a couple of pans, plates, etc…. There was a microwave and fridge but not much else. However the hospitalero had informed me that they served a meal up at the main place, which has rooms for a little more money, for just 5 euros at 19:30 so I decided not to bother with cooking today and try it out. A little later another pilgrim arrived, – Anna from Germany and she said she would accompany me for the meal.

The meal was alright, not much to add but you can’t complain at 5 euros for a 3 course munch with a drink!:) Then back to the stone housewhich surprisingly has radiators, internet and another pilgrim!:)