Day 11: Short Day to Ansiao

 

Day 11
Date:	Friday, Sep 16, 2016
Start:	Alvaiazere
Stop:	Residencial Solar Rainha, Ansiao     👎
Dist (Day/Total):	15/207 km
High Temp:	23 C/73 F

A single thumbs up or down is simply an indication of whether I would stay there again or not.  It is not a recommendation.  A double thumbs up or down indicates that the place was great and I highly recommend it or absolutely awful and stay away.

I start at 7:30 am.  Much later than I prefer but I have a feeling that this is going to be a short day.  There is an issue with breakfast at the hotel from last night and I grab a coffee and pasteis de nata, a tiny custard tart, at a cafe on my way out of town.

I get into Ansiao at around noon.  Stop at a bakery/cafe for a very nice toasted ham and cheese sandwich.  I check on accommodations in town and end up picking a hotel about a km out of town but on the caminho.  It’s €25 for a room and €12.50 for dinner.  Kinda high for what you get.  The room had a funky smell.  After taking a shower, I headed to the bar downstairs, which was nice and airy.  It got pretty busy for lunch but I noticed that a lot of people brought their lunches and some, not all, just ordered drinks.

After a couple of beers, I decided to head back into town.  I stock up at a pharmacy and pick up some sundry items.  I explore the town center, which takes me all of 30 minutes.  On a side street I pass a cafe and a guy drinking a beer who looks like a pilgrim.  I stop to chat.  He is a French pilgrim.  There are so few of us on this route that we are both excited to see each other.  Evidently, the cafe is part of a hotel and it looks much nicer than mine.  I wish I had found this place when I was searching.  We speak briefly; he doesn’t speak English and my French just gets me thru the basics, i.e where did you start, where are you headed, where are you from, etc.  I head back to the hotel, stopping off to buy some fruit.

That evening, I see the same British couple I had dinner with the previous night in the bar.  We eat together and have another very enjoyable time.  For dinner, we can each order an entree, choice between pork and fish, and the sides are served family style.  It was just ok, certainly not worth the price compared to some other meals I’d had.