THE PENULTIMATE LEG – ARZUA TO O PEDROUZO – 21 KM

Earth is crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God,

But only she who sees

takes off her shoes.

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Camino continues out through the old quarter of the town.

The trail passes through numerous hamlets. There’s just a bit of undulation with several shallow river valleys. Most of the trail is off road with shade from the prolific Eucalyptus trees.

Then locals in these parts enjoy telling you without the slightest tone of irony or sarcasm that “ no hay vacas in Galicia “ ( there are no cows in Galicia )….mmm. Another corker is :
*“No hay burro calvo, ni calabaza con pelo!”*
(” *“There is no bald donkey and no pumpkin with hair.”* ) I can clarify: it’s an idiom that basically means “don’t bullshit me” or, more generally, used in situations where something is clearly exaggerated, false, etc. I would add that there might be a second layer of irony to this, in the context of a conversation about Trump, because he’s often made fun of for his orange-colored fake tan, and people have often called him a pumpkin. So he sort of is a pumpkin with hair…

How did we get here ? Let’s leave this diversion and get back on to the Camino .

Striding out we soon reach a tiny place,Preguntono.

We go under the N- 547 by a tunnel and reach Taberna Velha and the Wall of Wisdom that has been “modernized” (i.e. laminated) to survive the elements of the Camino. It has inspirational quotes to motivate tired and worn peregrinos as they finish their final kilometers to Santiago de Compostela.

In John Brierley’s guide he says, it depends on one’s perspective

After all that philosophy we shall be ready for refreshments and here is just the place.

Casa Calzada – only if you’ve got the bottle for it.

We soon reach A Calle, a typical Camino village

We walk under the Horreos, towards Salceda.

PLEASE NOTE

The path joins the road at Salceda , and although you don’t walk on the road, you stay quite close. In fact, the path crosses the highway several times between here and Santiago. The speed of the traffic, the curves in the road and the abundance of pilgrims make this the most dangerous stretch along the path. Cross carefully and quickly and always stay under the road when possible.

Son after leaving Salceda we pass a poignant memorial

**The monument is of a bronze pair of his shoes** and people are known to leave little gifts beside the monument. The plaque at the side says “Guillermo Watt Peregrino, Abrazo a dios a los 69 años a una jornada de Santiago el 25 de Agosto 1993, año santo, vivas en Christo.”

The next place of interest as we near the end of this stage is Santa Irene. At 25 km from Santiago de Compostela, the small and beautiful village of Santa Irene, belonging to the municipality of O Pino.

Here you can find good places to eat and rest. One of the most interesting places in the locality are the hermitage and the fountain, since important curative powers are attributed to it and therefore, it hides several legends.

For many the water emanating from this source is able to kill pests and plagues of crops, so it was used to spray the crops. Also, it is presumed that it cured all the ills of children, who stopped crying when they passed by the image of the Saint. It was previously decorated with the image of the Saint, but this beautiful piece from 1692 was stolen in the eighties.