Day 17, Day 10 on the Camino

I was so looking forward to today!!! Our yellow arrows pointed us into the River Mino valley to the town of Ourense. Pictures and pamphlets at our albergue touted a gorgeous city with several naturall hot springs.

We set out at 6:00 with headlamps, as the moon is waning but unfortunately conflicting directional arrows had us in circles for nearly a half hour. Our walk was very uninspiring, taking us through industrial areas and by countless barking dogs protecting their large and small estates. With numerous stops for espresso, bocadillos, cerveza and junk food, I thought we would never get there!! My least favorite day of walking so far, and 15 miles of it at that. We did encounter some  caballeros and their horses though which was kind of cool!

We checked into our albergue, formerly a convent, and walked (far too many steps) to a wonderful dinner at Casa de Pulpo!!

Then we caught a 45 minute trolley (think Disneyland train) to one of the hot springs. Some brought their own towels, most their own suits, I rented both. There were pools in two circuits of several graduated temperatures, Zen & Celtic, many water features to enjoy a massage under and overall it was very “loverly”.

And in keeping with the theme, we heard more barking dogs throughout the night..?!??!