When we laid out our plans to do this hike in the beginning of August we looked on the web and found that the walk is divided into “stages”, with one stage per day. I’m still not sure of the rational for the stages other than them seem to be about 10 to 15 miles a day and make each night in a town of some size. These towns have sprouted abundant albergues, cafes and restaurants to support the throngs of pilgrims trekking through. We adopted the stages as advertised and stayed with them most of the time, although some were too long for our tastes (19.5 miles). We divided theses longer stages up into smaller, bite sized chunks to fit our needs, sleeping in some of the smaller, but no less comfortable villages.
Drawing on our PCT experiences, we gave ourselves 6 or 7 extra days to be spent on zero days, injury healing days or sightseeing days. However, since we usually finished walking by noon or one, we got ample rest in the afternoons to power us through the following day. Plus, it is awkward to take a zero. Unless you get a more expensive private room, you must vacate the albergues by eight in the morning and are not allowed in until noon or sometimes as late as two. These circumstances caused us to end our trip with 6 extra days upon reaching Santiago. One of those days, today, is to be spent resting.
We woke up at about 8:00am lounges in bed reading the news on our phones and generally enjoying doing nothing. While Sally was in showering I checked my email, noticing a reminder from AirB&B about our upcoming stay in Madrid. I also noticed another email from AirB&B sent about an hour later informing us our reservation for Madrid had been cancelled. What? It went on to say they were really sorry and they would give us $36 to ease our pain.
I told Sally of our plight when she returned from the shower. A mild panic ensued for the next hour as we searched for four nights accommodations in Madrid. With only a week’s notice, all the less expensive places were booked. Our $75.00 a night place now lost couldnonly be replaced by $350 a night places. Not in our budget. Calling a few places confirmed the lack of rooms. hmmmmm . . .
Sally, ever resourceful, turned to Rick Steve’s guide to Spain. In it, he mentioned a “hole in the wall” quaint place right on the Plaza Mayor. He ranks his room with dollar signs to give a clue as to their relative price, $$$, $$, $ or ¢. This one was a ¢. He cautioned that the owners, an elderly couple, only spoke Spanish. What the heck, I’ll give it a shot. I called and expressed my need “Yo necessito un reserva para dos personese para Septembre Viente seis a treinta.” The woman on the other end started asking me questions I could not answer. I apologized, hung up and sought out the lady who ran our hotel. She was next door cleaning a room. She knew enough English to understand our plight and called for us. They did indeed have a room for the nights we needed and she got them reserved. Woohoo! Problem solved. Only thing we don’t know is how much do they cost? Also, how dirty, cramped and smelly are they. We are trusting to Rick Steves for four decent nights. We will know in a week.
It was now nearing 11:00 and we were ready to get back on the streets. First stop. Catholic Mass for the pilgrims at noon. It is usually held in the big Cathedral, but with the renovation clogging the interior, it is moved to the Iglesia San Francisco, directly below our room about a block. We knew to arrive a half hour early if we wanted a seat, so we arrived at the door at 11:30. I had my pack with me, lunch water and rain coats inside. A security guard manned the door. No packs allowed. For a pilgrims mass? A mass for people that just walked 100’s of miles with a pack on their back, no packs? Sally went inside to get us a seat near the back. I walked back up the hill to our room, left the pack and walked back down. I was seated by 11:40. We close the last pew in the back so we could indiscreetly leave early. While waiting we reconnected with two Irish ladies we had been sharing the way with.
By noon the church was packed. All the pews were full, 14 people to a row, 25 rows. Another 100-200 were standing in the back or on the sides. The organ played, mass started, people chanted and we got up to leave. We snapped a few photos before we left.
Back up to the room to grab the pack, then over to the bus station, a 20 minute walk away, to check on bus tickets to Fisterra tomorrow. We joked and laughed with the lady at the info window and found we did not need advanced tickets, we could buy them tomorrow morning right here at the station.
On our way back we took another route that led us to the Camino, the same route we took yesterday into the plaza. It was fun to walk it again and watch the anticipation on the people’s faces walking it for the first time. We stopped at many of those souvenir shops we passed yesterday, Sally on the prowl for a few trinkets.
We had a lunch of crackers, cheese and a banana, seated on the stone benches on the side of the cathedral. I went inside to check out the holy door now that I had read a description of it.
We returned to the Italian restaurant of yesterday for a shared dinner of Spaghetti. Sally has been texting Dana during the day and arranged to have drinks with them after dinner. I had been texting with Annamarie about the same. Annamarie had invited us to dinner with some friends but we declined, telling her we would join them during their meal for a few minutes.
As we completed our meal, Sally texted Dana we would meet them in 5 minutes in the main plaza. We probably took 15 to pay the check and walk. On the walk we passed Annamarie and Colton busking on a street corner and stopped to say hi, then on our way again. We found John and Dana waiting for us.
We had a nice time chatting with Dana and John over wine and soda. The ladies decided to seek out Colton and ask for a song. We hoped he was still busking. We walked to the corner where we last saw him, but he was gone. We returned to the square for a group photo. As we walked to the middle of the square, there stood Colton, all alone. He was waiting for Annamarie, who was late.
We asked for a song and Colton happily removed his guitar from its case and sang for us as we sat on the cobblestones of the square. After his song he packed up and headed for where he thought the girls might be. We walked with Dana and Hohn back through the tunnel and up the stairs. We were stopped in our tracks by a beautiful acapella voice echoing from the tunnel. This beautiful voice had replaced the bagpipes. We stood and listened for a few minutes, then continued on. We parted with John and Dana and returned to our room for the night.
We had wondered how many people we would see today. Did all the people walking with us leave, or did some stay on. Turns out most have left, but we still saw at least 20 people we knew. What a great day!
A crowed mass for pilgrims
Chuck and the giant feet of santiago
We find RaLuca and Juergen in the square.
The cathedral
Dana and John
Colton Ort sings for us
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