Hiking The Camino de Santiago: Day 3, Palas de Rei to Arzúa

Day 3 of hiking the Camino de Santiago was a long day.
Like, really long: 30 km (18.6 miles) of steep up and down hills long.

Leaving our cozy hotel in Palas de Rei, we stepped into yet another cool misty morning. We cheerfully hiked our way over creeks and rivers and through enormous oak forests as the rising sun seeped and spilled through the dense canopy of leaves overhead.

Moving at a brisk pace to keep warm in the chilly morning air, we quickly arrived in San Xulián do Camino.

This little village is home to a small stone church called Iglesia de San Xulián. This 12th-century Romanesque church is named for San Xulián (St. Julian), a saint often associated with The Camino and the patron of hospitallers and hoteliers.

San Xulián has an interesting story.

According to legend*, when Xulián was a young man, it was prophesied that he would one day kill his own parents. To keep the prophecy from coming true, Xulián left town in an effort to stay away from his parents and keep them safe from his own hand. He eventually built a new life for himself away from his parents (likely in Portugal) and married a young woman.

Soon after Xulián’s marriage, his parents set out to locate their lost son’s new home and found his wife there alone. She, unaware of the prophecy, was thrilled to finally meet her mother and father-in-law, welcoming them into the home and even offering hers and Xulián’s bed to the weary travelers while she attended church.

Unfortunately, Xulián soon returned home before his wife and unexpectedly found two people in his bed. Assuming that it was his wife and a secret lover, he murdered both of his sleeping parents in a blind rage.

Immediately realizing his mistake and that the prophecy had come true, Xulián and his wife began a pilgrimage to Rome to seek forgiveness for his sins from the pope. As his penance, Xulián was ordered to devote his life to caring for pilgrims. He did so, and he and his wife were both canonized as saints after their deaths.

*This story is entirely according to legend and is not officially verified by the Catholic church, but it makes for a good tale, anyway.

---

Adding to the day’s list of religious legends and folklore, we passed through the town of Leboreiro, which is home to another very interesting legend.

In Leboreiro stands a little church called Iglesia de Santa Maria (an 18th-century rebuilding of the 13th-century original).

According to legend*, in the 14th century, the villagers of Leboreiro discovered a statue of the Virgin Mary combing her hair had been placed in the town’s fountain. (Based on what I’ve read, I can’t tell if it was a statue depicting Mary combing her hair, or if the statue itself was somehow magically combing its own hair…I really can’t be sure.)

Numerous times, they took the statue from the fountain and placed it in the Iglesia de Santa Maria, only to discover that it had later mysteriously returned to its place in the water. 

It was only after the townspeople carved an image of Mary on the tympanum over the church’s front door that the sculpture remained in place inside the church. Interestingly, this legend closely aligns with a pagan story from the same area.

The fountain is no longer there, but the statue is allegedly still in place on the altar inside the church. (The church wasn’t open when we passed, so I can’t confirm.)

*Again. A legend. Not necessarily fact.

---

After walking and chatting our way downhill through still more rolling countryside, villages and dense forest, we stopped at a shady cafe called Mesón A Ponte, situated in a sharp turn along the Rio (River) Furelos on the outskirts of the tiny village of Furelos (population about 160).

Just outside the cafe, a 4-arched medieval bridge called Puente (bridge) de San Xoan crosses the Rio Furelos as one of the longest medieval bridges to remain standing on the Camino de Santiago. It also made for a nice view during a welcome break for lunch.

On a stroke of luck, the fun group of ladies we met and walked with previously arrived at the cafe shortly after we did. After lunch, we continued together on the next stretch of the hike into Melide, happily singing songs from The Sound of Music, our favorite Disney movies (ok the Disney songs were mostly just me), and getting to know each other better.

With a small population of just under 5,000, Melide is still a good bit larger and more modern than most of the villages we walked through. Navigating while hiking the Camino de Santiago as it crossed modern traffic along busy streets was a bit of a challenge.

Though it appears to be very modern, Melide is home to a wealth of prehistoric sites such as 2,000-year-old burial mounds, iron age Celtic castles, Roman roads, and medieval remains. (Or so I’m told. We just saw busy streets and cafes)

To modern Europeans, perhaps the most interesting feature of Melide is a small stone church called Iglesia de San Pedro.

Inside, tombs of local nobles from the 14th century lie in dignified silence. Outside, the church’s front door may look familiar.

It’s rumored that the arched stone tympanum served as the inspiration for the image on the €10 note. Upon further research, I’ve found that this is likely untrue.

It’s my understanding that the €10 note features examples of Romanesque-type architecture, rather than any specific structure.

Oddly enough, I noticed that the back of the €10 note also kinda’ resembles the Puente de San Xoan pictured above.

(I don’t know… They’re both pretty similar. But not exactly the same. I’ll let you decide.)

We continued hiking the Camino de Santiago out of Melide picking flowers, singing songs, and marveling at the striking green countryside.

We meandered through quaint little towns, farms, and neighborhoods full of sleepy houses with creeping vines hugging doorways and covering porch roofs.

---

Passing through the small village of Boente, we stopped at the Fonte de Saleta, which is one of a few fountains along The Way said to hold water with healing powers (though you definitely shouldn’t drink it!)

We soon crossed the unassuming Ribadiso bridge, a single-arched stone structure built in the 12th century and the oldest in the Arzúa province. The grassy area below the bridge was complete with stone stairs into the water begging us to take a quick dip in the cooling river. (We didn’t… but other pilgrims did!)

Crossing this ancient bridge meant we were getting closer to the end of our long day.

As we approached Arzúa, the terrain turned into a VERY steep climb out of a river valley.

After at least an hour (maybe 2? Who can know?) of very steep uphill and very steep downhill on repeat, my knees were FARKED.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I didn’t train for this hike and it was at this point that my lack of physical prep became apparent. I won’t lie to you- it sucked.

Luckily the surrounding countryside was a STUNNING display of rolling hills, sunshine, rustling winds, mooing cows, and bleating goats.

I was happy to slow my pace and walk alone behind the group to drink it all in.

This solitary hour (or so) and the sting of each painful step put me into a meditative state set to the rhythm of what I began to call the soundtrack of The Camino: the quietly rhythmic step, step, step, step of my own two feet and literally nothing else but the occasional rush of a light wind.

Living in the middle of Atlanta back home, the sound of silence isn’t something I hear very often.

I focused on this soundtrack’s meditative effect to encourage myself to walk through the pain and really
zen out.

A ‘just keep putting one foot in front of the other and soon that foot will step on the finish line’ mindset became my mantra for the day and remained in my mind after returning home too.

The afternoon was a long overdue reminder that
I can do hard things.

Hoping that it was just fatigue from the day screaming out of my knees and not a more permanent injury, we hobbled to the edge of the town of Arzúa to wait for a ride to our hotel for the evening (this night’s hotel was off the main trail-about 10 km from the town center, requiring a short taxi ride).

The pain of the final few hours of the day hiking the Camino de Santiago was made worth it by another EXCELLENT hotel stay at Lar da Mota in Arzúa.

Lar da Mota is an ADORABLE 16th-century farmhouse in Arzúa that has been carefully restored as a boutique hotel.

Retaining many of its original features such as natural stone walls and fireplaces, the rustic charm of the original structure blends beautifully with modern luxury and comfort.

After a welcome glass of local wine and a shoes-off stroll in the back garden (followed by a shockingly painful walk up the stairs to our room… HELLO KNEES), we settled into our sweet little guestrooms and munched on hand-made chocolates from the hotel owner’s wife.

We quickly showered and sink-washed our clothes before heading back downstairs for dinner.

Once again, dinner in the dining room was absolutely and unexpectedly incredible.

As the only guests staying that night, we had the opportunity to speak to the owner at length as he waited on our table. (Unfortunately, I never caught his name)

While serving a beautiful multi-course meal of hand-made soups, salads, delicately cooked meats, fish, pasta, and pretty desserts, he told us the story of how he came to own and operate Lar da Mota with his wife (she’s also the chef, of course!)

Originally from Egypt, the couple was vacationing in Spain in early 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic closed borders around the globe. Finding themselves shut out of Egypt and stuck in the Spanish countryside for an unknown period of time, the couple decided to purchase the hotel and renovate it for post-pandemic travelers.

After a year of ownership and updating, the hotel finally opened in June of 2021. (We were visiting in October 2021)

Following the meal, we retired to our rooms and realized
WE HAD BATHTUBS!

Clean bathtubs are a #luxury when hiking the Camino de Santiago.

My aunt and I took turns taking luxurious hot soaks in the tub to soothe our aching limbs and finished the evening with a little bit of time relaxing with our feet propped on the wall behind the bed. (This aids in circulation and reduces inflammation after a long day of hiking.)

My knees were definitely still in pain the following morning (and still are today), but I’m sure that it would have been a LOT worse had we not had the luxury of a long hot soak and time to relax with our feet up in the lovely coziness of Lar da Mota.

Lights out.