Ourense to Poza

We enjoyed some of the sites of Ourense such as the cloisters, the Lyceo and old building with atmosphere which houses a gentleman's club, the thermal bath right in the centre of town.

The cloisters from 1325c

The men's club 

Really hot water just running out of pipes

The millennium bridge

We left Ourense this morning feeling physically refreshed but mentally challenged.  Andy is leaving Karen again and  so is full of mixed feelings. Peter and I are both  ready to finish too.  It is raining to add to the mix so we are all deep in our own thoughts. We charge out of Ourense and face a continual uphill climb of a couple of hours. 

We pass through some quaint villages and some larger homes on acreage. Soon we plunge into leafy lanes  with old trees. The rain is intermittent and then starts to fall very heavily as we near our destination. We see a flyer for a Casa rural that we hadn't heard off and even though it is 400 metres off the route they offer a decent price for pilgrims €13 with breakfast. As the rain sets in we decide to take this option over the municipal of 40 beds.  We get to the place and no one is there but an old lady comes over and tries to tell us it will be only a few minutes and the owner will come. We ring the number she suggests and he comes very quickly.  It is a delightful place with a great bathroom! We get the three bed room and struggle to converse in Spanish. We eat our jam sandwiches and boiled eggs for lunch washed down with lots of hot coffee.

I am freezing and take first shower to warm up. When I get out of the shower I see this little packet which says hydrating so I tear it open to rub moisturiser but discover I have covered myself with shower gel and need to hop back in the shower! Foreign language  without glasses  can be a problem.
The owner has turned up the heating so the floor is warm and we wash after all because it will dry. The weather deteriorates and  we are glad to be inside.

 Tomorrow is going to be wet again.
Andy has fun ordering dinner over the phone . We wait in anticipation for it to be delivered.
The wifi works and I do some banking and contacting of family. It has been so spasmodic of late and I was getting quite distressed that I couldn't  access my bank account. All is good now.
Our enthusiasm has returned and we are eager to get to Santiago now.