The Camino de Invierno
Day 4 A Rúa de Valdeorras to Quiroga
Monday 29th April 2019
| Distance |
Time |
Elevation in meters |
Km |
Elapsed
Hrs-Mins |
Moving
Hrs-Mins |
Gain |
Loss |
Min |
Max |
| 23.71 |
7H06 |
5H06 |
539 |
615 |
258 |
480 |
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(*) With it being another very hot day and due to pain in my right leg making me limp, I took a taxi from Soldón to Quiroga.
Courtesy of www.gronze.com
Courtesy of www.gronze.com
The centre of A Rúa
Time for a quick coffee before setting off
Igrexa de Nosa Señora de Fátima
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Igrexa de Nosa Señora de Fátima
This church was built between the 19th and 20th centuries. Of neogothic style, its roof and two towers are covered in slate, the material par excellence of the region of Valdeorras. Mainly built with with irregular stone and stone brick mould in the ogival windows and buttresses.
The religious celebrations reach their apogee during the month of May and culminate with the procession of the Virgin of Fátima. |
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Looking over A Rúa towards the river
Up and up and up .......
Someone has a sense of humour around here
The road signs keep you sane..... you can count of each kilometer that you walk
At this point you leave Ourense and enter Lugo
Viña Losada.... what a great place to have a vinyard!
.
At last I reach Alvaredos and time for a rest
Feelin' the heat!
Narrow streets of Alvaredos, but no facilities
The mystery painter must come from Alvaredos
Leaving Alvaredos
Back to the railway line
Approaching Montefurado Station........ perhaps I will stop off in the station cafe and have a
tuna mayo sandwich and a cold beer.....
Nada!
I saw this place but it was too hot and I was too tired that I did not bother to investigate.... it is in fact Igrexa Parroquial de San Miguel de Montefurado
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Igrexa Parroquial de San Miguel de Montefurado
Construction of this church began in 1759, and its exterior walls offer a reddish brown aspect due to years of oxidation of the stone which contains metallic impurities. Its facade is eye catching, with a square tower with a three stage structure, with a thin spire from Astorga. covered by a slate roof. In the interior a Rococo-style Salamancan altarpiece stands out, with the image of San Miguel, patron of the parish, made between 1768 and 1805. |
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I seem to be doing a hell of a lot of climbing today .......
My favorite km signs again........ I am sure I started on LU-933 at 58 km
Another so soon!
And another! The boy is cooking on gas!
At last I get off the hot tarmac, although the route is still uphill
Back on the LU-933 again
At last a source of drinkable water in Bendilló
I used sterilisation tablets just to be safe......
Soldón
| It had been a long hot day. By the time I got to Soldón I had a pronounced limp and my walking speed had dropped to 2.5 km per hour. I was still going strong, but realised that it would take me a long time to reach Quiroga, and then I had to find the hotel which was on the outskirts of the town somewhere. Common sense prevailed. I asked a local person if he could call me a taxi, and within 10 minutes one appeared. |
Accommodation
| When the taxi pulled up in front of Hotel Remansino my heart sank, because the place looked as though it had been locked up and abandoned! Nobody answered the door. The taxi driver phoned the number on the door but no one answered the phone. I was just about to ask him if there was somewhere else I could go, when a young chap who spoke English appeared. From what I could gather a "grandmother" owned the place, and there were three generations of the family living there..... but no guests. I was somewhat apprehensive to say the least. |
As I waited to check in I noticed a broom with sweepings at the bar counter,
along with an ironing board and a pile of washing. I wondered, is that a piece of Tracy Emin
art work, or is somebody too lazy to clean
up?
There was stuff everywhere; a bike, a hammock, gym equipment etc and behind the bar it was obvious
that the person had a hoarding problem.
I was somewhat relieved that my room was clean and fresh and had a nice view of the river. Overall the
hotel was a place that had such potential, but was a mess.
The view from my room
With no food available in the hotel I walked into town and found a small cafe where I was able to get a beer and a bocadillo
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The Bocadillo
Not a lot of people know this, but the English sandwich and the Spanish bocadillo share the same origin. Both are derived from the Roman snack "tortamque panis". The bocadillo evolved as a result of the climate and the cultural norms of the Iberian peninsular. First of all the locals stopped the use of mantequilla, the butter that made mastication of the bread roll easier. Secondly they religiously make bocadillos two days before they offer them to you for consumption, and they always use bread that is a minimum of 7 days old. This enables them to achieve a hardness of 35 on the Richter bread hardness scale. The bocadillo is much favoured by the Consejo General de Colegios de Odontólogos y Estomatólogos (The Spanish Dental Association) as over 50 % of their business comes from repairing broken teeth and replacing crowns and fillings due to overexuberant munching on the bocadillo.
You may discern that I am not a huge fan of the humble bocadillo! |
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