We walked beside too many roads, along highways and past lumber mills and through suburban neighborhoods where the houses had bread boxes beside the mailboxes and lazy dogs slept in the shade. Sometimes the arrow would point us onto a path lined with trees and often along the Roman road with rounded stones. The way to our hotel appeared in my inbox like a riddle: Good afternoon, as I mentioned on the phone, give some directions to the house from Redondela, you have to follow the road to Pontevedra, when already on a path that is no longer road will find a playground and a source, leave it on the right and go up the first street on the right, reach a junction with a large cross, there is a dirt road on your left, he catches it and not leave it for 2 km always on the right side to get home. We bickered at a small cafe about how to proceed, the hill before us long and steep. Finally we called a taxi. Up, up, up he drove. Best seven euros you ever spent, Chris said. I wish I could say the place was worth the climb, the food the food we had waited for all trip. I’ll only say that we headed out early and for awhile the walking was all down hill. 

October 9, 2015

Porriño to Redondela/As Chivas