Walk With Me - From Porto to Santiago de Compostela

Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis Keen to beat the afternoon heat for this fairly long 21.2km walk, I left the hotel at 7.20am, grateful it offered breakfast from 6.30am. It was lovely to begin with a wander through Pontevedra's ancient streets as the town slept soundly and dawn was still a while away before settling into pleasant countryside, with the occasional stretch along busier roads. There was only one climb of note - a gentle but steady 3km stretch that took me to 126m. It hardly took very much out of me. All up, less than five hours - 12.10pm - brought me from charming Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis along the Way. Caldas de Reis has been famed since Roman times for its hot springs - from which it gets its name - and you can still feel that heritage in the air. I rewarded myself with a nicely chilled vino blanco and a complimentary slice of Spanish omelette at the taberna beside my hotel - a rather grand old building. A soothing massage in the evening worked wonders, after which I went for a walk through town, dipped my toes in the thermal waters and stopped for a pilgrims Mass at the Iglesia de Santo Tomás Becket. It is said that this was the first church in the world dedicated to the English saint after his martyrdom. Evening Mass was followed by dinner for one, and as night fell the square filled with music. Love songs floated up through the open windows of my room. I kept them open for the gentle breezes as there was no air-conditioning or fan - a simple reminder that pilgrim life and luxury do not always go hand in hand. Caldas de Reis to Padrón Another 7.20am start, this time with a picnic breakfast packed by the hotel because breakfast service started only at 8am. The quiet, dark streets soon gave way to the rhythmic sounds of pilgrims joining from side streets, each adding to the flow of the morning trail. It felt like one of those movies - more and more people gathering for a shared purpose. The aroma of coffee lured me to a cafe. Ordered a takeaway but decided to sit awhile and was rewarded with a complimentary slice of cake. How they manage to be so generous when prices are not at all exorbitant baffles me. The forest paths seem to lean in protectively, branches locking arms to offer shade. Now and then, a sharp chilly wind would whistle through. A fair section of the path hugged a hillside, with the sound of a brook tumbling below on the right. I rested with a Spanish tortilla and chilled drink at Café San Miguel, quite a distance still from Padrón. It was packed but service was good (the Spanish do take their time with each customer) and the tortilla was perfect, golden and slightly crisp on the outside, moist and tender within. The last stretch took me through a series of suburbs before a long 1.8km approach into Padrón. No shade, no breeze, just heat with the market announcing the start of the town. It was not as pretty an entry as many of the previous towns but Padrón carries its own gravitas. It is here, legend says, that the boat carrying St James' body came ashore, making it one of the most sacred points on the Camino. After a shower, I will see what the place olds. Tomorrow, I complete my pilgrimage.