Day 44 - Xunqueira de Ambía to Ourense (15 miles)

When I started planning this trip I saw Ourense, my destination for the day, as a point from which Santiago de Compostela would be within touching distance. However, now I am here, it still feels a little distant; it may be under seventy miles away along the Camino but it will still be about five days of walking with some steep climbs thrown in before I actually get there. In the meantime I will be taking the opportunity for one last rest day in this, the last big town before Santiago.

It was not the most inspiring of days. We are effectively leaving the remote and tiny villages of Galicia and heading into the more populated areas and our walk reflected this. At first we felt like we were deep in countryside as we left Xunqueira de Ambía but before long we were following a road, quiet at first and interspersed with small villages. But the road became busier and the villages got closer together until they merged into one continuous string of buildings forming the various suburbs of Ourense. 

By early afternoon we had reached Ourense proper but it was still over an hour of walking along a busy road until we reached its heart. These long walks into big cities are never enjoyable and you mostly see the worst of places before you see the best but that did not stop me wondering what the fuss was about with Ourense; I had read it was an undiscovered gem of Galicia but at the moment, as a gem, it seemed rough and uncut. I parted with Patrick with whom I had been walking and made for my hostel before heading out again to meet him and others for lunch. The route from where I am to the old centre is along a pedestrian street much like a vehicle free Oxford Street in London. It was clean and neat and full of high class shops but still not meeting my idea of an ‘undiscovered gem'. However, by the time I had reached the Plaza Mayor I was slowly becoming converted; there was now much more old architecture and plenty of car free streets and the area where we enjoyed our octopus lunch was a tiny maze of charming, narrow lanes crammed with restaurants, bars and cafes. Afterwards I said my farewells: with a day off from walking tomorrow it is unlikely that I will see any of these fellow walkers again until Santiago, if at all. For them their journeys would continue in the morning. For me it was back to the relative luxury of my small private room to plan for tomorrow and the next few days.