Day 40 Xunqueira de Ambía to Ourense

A decent walk today with an early start as getting to Ourense in time to see the city made sense. Perfect blue skies and perfect temperature.

The number of pilgrims was definitely increasing as one got into Galicia.

Morning coffee was at Bar Torre in A Pousa a few miles out. It was delightful to be joined by this pair of pals who seemed very fond of each other.

Walking to Ourense wasn't great - it's always a shock after avoiding big towns to find oneself confronted by industry and the route was along the main road into town.

Nonetheless the city centre was historic and pleasant and I had a flat right in the heart of Ourense. The admission process was pretty high tech - all done by app and the flat was also modern.

So, having arrived by 2pm, time for sightseeing. St Martin is the cathedral and that was a treat. In the UK, the statues are nearly always bare - seeing this riot of colour was a reminder of how this statues were meant to look.

Ourense is also famous for its natural warm springs so it was into a cab and off to them. No photos as I didn't know what the situation was for leaving my phone while I dipped. As it was, no problem. The baths (Termas Outariz) are a nice set-up - the water flows through them, fed by the springs, so one avoids that unpleasant sensation of sharing someone else's bath water. They were at different temperatures too, all outside on the banks of the river Mino. I think the general idea is that these baths are modelled on some Japanese theme, which is fine but to create a Japanese ambience with more boisterous Europeans is a little ambitious.

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