Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Arementeira to Villanova de Arousa

(15.8 miles)

We started our day after breakfast with mass a short bus ride away at Monasterio de Armenteira in Meis. The grounds were beautiful, the on premises made soap, jewelry and essential oil products in their nunnery tienda delightful and our official Camino start at 10:00 on the Portugués Spiritual Variant only steps away! 

It is said that there are three stages to one’s Camino: 1) physical 2) mental and 3) spiritual.

Today, with a relaxing, deep sigh, I realized I was in stage three! It’s always a great day when I can walk for hours in the woods!  This morning I was surrounded by so many gradations of green, shafts of light from the sun – sometimes dappled, sometimes proclaiming it’s subject with a fanfare of blinding intensity! And the textures of the foliage perform a quiet concert with the slow trickle and often roar of running creek water beside the trail.  

The seven inch slug I saw making good headway across my footpath was going its way and I was astounded by the appreciation of its beauty that I felt!  Flight of tiny butterflies, joyful tunes of songbirds, the crunch of dirt beneath my shoes – what a glorious time I am having!  Even the technical bouldering aspect of today’s route on the “Spiritual Variant” filled my heart to overflowing!

Often  with our tribe of fourteen I am strategizing how to get some small surrounds to myself. Today it just happened, and suddenly I realized I was going slow and enjoying every teeny, tiny detail around me.  Not as Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music upon the Pyrenees, yet I was still dancing slow circles in adoration for God‘s handiwork!! Can I get an Amen??!  

I was passed by two groups of students out on a field day – one all youngsters and the second were teenagers I believe.  I suddenly realized I had tears in my eyes! Love of nature is a Great passion!

Today we finally did a double digit walk – 15 miles!  A third in the woods, a third through Vineyards, and third on the beach! We each did our own lunch thing because there was some separation between us – it all worked out. 

Dinner back at our hotel was Amazing with bread, calamari and seafood paella!!  Dessert was an amazing flan!!