Today was our penultimate day of walking as we set off across country to from Negreira to Olvieroa. Negreira is not a location on the typical tourist map and has no medieval or historic district hiding away in an old town centre. Also, very unusually for Galicia, Negreira’s streets are wide and straight and the town itself is nestled in somewhat of a valley, masked by hills and mountains on all sides.
On the way out of town, we passed under the arch of the Pazo de Coton a large baroque manor building built in the 18th century. The weather forecast had promised a slightly cooler start, and for once it delivered. The whole area was misty and a lot cooler than the last few days.
Today’s elevation profile showed that we would be climbing up from the outset, maybe not as steeply as before but over a much longer period of time. Winding paths with distant views, followed by nice calm forest paths led us to an abandoned village, even the church door was locked.
Narrow stone wall lined paths, hedgerow lined paths and misty views as we continued walking, the only thing of note to see was a large cemetery.
We were pleased that the mist persisted in keeping the sun off our backs. The landscape was becoming much more agricultural now as we walked past farms and fields of corn. The smell of silage as we walked past the dairy farms was very potent and not at al pleasant. A fairly long stretch along the roadside bought the first (very long) climb of the day to an end.
More fields of corn, a couple of streams and we stopped briefly in Mazaricos for an ice-cream before carrying on through the cornfields. At this stage the sun had beaten the mist but thanks to being a few hundred metres high was a little less hot.
A very spiky hill, up to our highest elevation so far of 482m before a long steep descent bought us to a cafe for a cold drink and some Tarta de Santiago. Literally meaning cake of St. James, this is an almond cake from Galicia with its origin in the Middle Ages and the Camino de Santiago. We crossed the river via the Ponte Olivieroa – during the War of Independence, on April 12, 1809, a confrontation with the French took place in Ponte Olveira, to prevent them from crossing the bridge. The French won and in retaliation they beheaded the leaders, the priests of Mazaricos and Colúns, in A Picota. We then came to our hotel in the minuscule town of Olvieroa.
Tomorrow is our last day as we walk to the end of the earth.
