I woke early in the very cute municipal albergue of Mos and took full advantage of the super kitchen to prepare a delicious breakfast of scramble eggs with fried tomatoes and a pasta lunch for on the road today.

I had had a watsapp from my lovely friends Anna and Lucille to say to aim for a reunion in Pontevedra but that was at least 29km away so I needed to get myself organised and out asap! Fed and with a couple of cups of camomile tea inside me (herbal tea is easier in albergues as you can’t really carry milk!) I was out for about 8am. Today’s walked led me through lots of little villages and hamlets, through forests and country roads.

As we are now less than 100km to Santiago the waymarks are appearing every few metres and informing me exactly how many more I have to do!

After about 18km I came to Arcade which looks like a great town by the sea – it even had a sandy beach! I stopped for a coffee and some lunch but had to keep on a moving… I met a Portuguese guy at the bar, Jose, who was from Lisbon and heading to Pontevedra too.

The rain had been threatening to fall all day and about an hour from Pontevedra is started, hard! For the last few kilometres there is an alternative route along the river which can allow you to avoid a dull walk along city streets and industry, but as the rain was here and the alternative was a couple of km longer, I opted for the road and ploughed forward.

The municipal albergue in Pontevedra is situated at the very ugly end of town! As you enter the city. It is a most unappealing building, particularly in the rain, though there were a huge amount of flowers in the reception area, perhaps to try to make up for it’s ugly duckling looks. Anna and Lucille were there to greet me and we headed off down the road together to look for a shop but as it was Sunday we were not in luck. Hey ho,we have pasta, we have tuna, we have garlic! We never seem to run out of those 3 staple ingredients. The rain grew heavier still as we headed back to our depressing hostel. It was also a busy hostel – I had to accept a top bunk for the first time…. We bumped in to a wet Jose wandering along looking for it and led him back. He was in need of wine and invited us to join him so after showering we donned our driest clothes and waterproofs and made a dash for the closest bar open in town. We drank a lot of wine…. Actually Anna didn’t! She was very sensible and headed off early to cook for is which was very welcome when we made it back for our 10oclock curfew and a super pasta dinner. Bedtime.