Hiking The Camino de Santiago: Day 4, Arzúa to Casa de Acivro

I awoke on my fourth day of hiking the Camino de Santiago afraid to move.

Did my knees- sore and likely injured from the intense up and downhills from the previous day’s hike- miraculously heal overnight? Or did they stiffen into a worse state than they were in the day before?

Turns out, it was somewhere in between. Better, but not great.

Still. I was determined to continue hiking The Camino de Santiago and make it to the finish.

After a WONDERFUL breakfast spread at our hotel (Lar da Mota) we were up and off into the fading pink of the morning sun.

We were driven back into Arzúa and dropped in a small square where The Camino begins its winding way out of town.

The lush green square was also home to a few monuments dedicated to the cheesemakers of the area, which is known as “the land of cheese” for its centuries-long dedication to crafting fine artisan cheeses from the milk of specially raised local cows.

Heading out of Arzúa through tight stone alleyways, we followed a nun off the street and into a church dedicated to Santiago. We lit candles with intentions for the day and took a peek inside before stepping back out into the morning to begin the day’s hike.

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We were soon surrounded by- you guessed it– more magical forest and wide stretches of rolling hills bathed in bright sunshine. (It’s kind of a theme on The Camino)

Passing charming natural fountains, friendly cows, and monuments dedicated to fallen pilgrims and other intentions we couldn’t quite decipher, we snaked through homestead backyards and wooded stretches until we reached the trail-side home of a man hand-carving beautiful walking sticks for sale.

The natural support of local artisans is one of the more charming things about hiking The Camino de Santiago.

Scores of cheesemakers, woodcarvers, winemakers, restaurants, hotels, albergues, shops, churches and all sorts of other establishments exist only because The Camino happens to pass through the area.

Many of the little towns and villages along The Way wouldn’t exist at all were it not for a local establishment or two built solely to aid weary travelers hiking The Camino de Santiago.

The hikers need the locals and in turn, the locals need the hikers. It’s a perfect two-sided relationship built on hospitality and care for a fellow human.

It’s kinda’ beautiful to see.

We stopped for a quick snack at THE CUTEST little cafe called A Granxa de Tato. This place sticks in my mind for a multitude of reasons (including REALLY good food- the homemade lemonade is incredible!), but mainly for its quirky interior decor- what I called “a sort of Spanish Cracker Barrel feel.”

The front and back patios made for a serene mid-morning stop, covered in verdant grapevines and funny little items in place purely to give you a giggle. Even the restroom was decorated in a way that brightened the mood and had guests leaving the lavatory chuckling.

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Cheerfully hiking our way into the afternoon, I was struck by the outpouring of positivity and camaraderie that seemed to come right up out of the land itself. While I had definitely noticed it on previous days, the feeling of a “Camino Family” and the power of positivity was blatantly apparent on this day.

Passing many people who had stopped to care for blisters and other walk-induced injuries (including myself!) I began to notice that you really can’t stop alone while hiking The Camino de Santiago.

If anyone pauses to adjust a bandaid, tie a shoe, dig in their pack, or just take a rest, nearly every. single. person. that passes will also stop to check on the welfare of their fellow pilgrim.

“Do you need a bandaid?”
“How bad is it?”
“Are you walking alone?”
“Do you need some water or a snack?”
“How far until you stop tonight?”
“How can I help?”
“I’ll walk with you.”

On repeat.
In every language you can imagine.

And 99% of the time, the answer was “Thank you. You’re an angel! You saved me! I’ll be ok now! Just a little further. You’re so kind. I appreciate you.”

Seeing and being involved in this exchange between strangers over and over and over lead me to contemplate another big life mantra that The Camino reinforced in my mind:

Negativity helps nothing.

A positive attitude and the constant search for the silver lining, even in the face of pain or upsetting circumstances, can get you through almost anything life throws your way.

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Our next stop was a fun one. At about KM 30 (meaning 30 KM from the finish in Santiago), there is a small restaurant/beer garden with a large tree-shaded patio that’s absolutely COVERED in beer bottles.

It’s called Casa Tía Dolores and the beer bottles are stuck in every nook and cranny for an interesting purpose.

The idea is that pilgrims stop here for a welcome rest and a cold bottle of beer in the middle of a long day’s hike.

Once the beer is finished, you are welcome to write an intention, wish, burden to shed, or anything else on the bottle and stick it anywhere you can find space. It’s a sort of wishing fountain of beer… sort of.

Of COURSE, we stopped for a quick Peregrina (pilgrim beer) and left our bottled burdens behind.

Casa Tía Dolores also seemed to have some delicious-looking food available, but we were just ‘heres for the beers.’

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The next interesting bit on day 4 of hiking The Camino de Santiago was a small, you’ll-miss-it-if-you-don’t-look-for-it fountain (more of a spring, really) in the little town of Santa Irene.

This centuries-old “fountain” is the subject of a village legend in Santa Irene. According to the legend, the fountain’s water has healing powers, but it’s not drinkable. Because they can’t consume it directly from the source, the locals are said to use its waters to irrigate their gardens, thus ingesting it through the plants that grow from its nourishment.

Clever.

We stopped for a bit to check out this legendary fountain and try it out on our various wounds and aches. (I definitely rubbed it all over my knees!) The jury is still out on if it worked, but hey- I made it to Santiago, didn’t I?

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We walked the remainder of the day making new interesting friends (like Pilgrim Pete– a multi-Camino pilgrim with the mantra “Live Large” and a lovely blog- check him out!) and catching up to old friends we met on days before.

As we walked into Casa de Acivro, we were tired, but in good spirits, stopping to jump-reach for figs in trees until we were assisted by a passing man with a better plan: he used his walking stick to pull the branch down.

Genius.

This evening’s hotel, O Acivro, was right on The Camino so we easily walked in off of the street and didn’t have to bother with a taxi as we did on previous nights.

The site was surrounded by hauntingly dilapidated homes and structures that made for some interesting scenery on the walk into town.

Perhaps it’s because I was fully spoiled by the previous three nights’ gorgeous hotels, but this place really wasn’t the best. I mean, it was fine. But not great. Big roadside Motel-6 vibes.

While it did have a cute garden and outdoor area to relax with drinks, the food in the dining room wasn’t stellar, the staff weren’t very friendly, the rooms were damp, the bathrooms were dingy (there WAS a bathtub, but I was NOT going to put my body in it), and a poor donkey in the field behind our room that bayed all. night. (Ok, I kinda liked the donkey. I don’t hold his mournful singing against him.)

I’m not sure exactly why, but the rooms all had “Dutch doors” (sawed horizontally in half) which added to the barnyard-y effect and were really hard to lock and unlock. All around not great.

Luckily, we were tired from the day’s hike and the sheets were clean! After fully slathering my entire body my knees and calves in biofreeze, taking a dose of Advil PM, and fully freaking out because the TV in the room kept turning on by itself (WTF?!), we hit the pillow like two sacks of rocks.

I actually did end up having a very restful night of sleep and was thankful to have a private room and a roof over my head- more than many pilgrims along The Way could say that night.

Stay positive, my friends.
Lights out.