Day 22 - Thursday, September 19, 2019 - O Pedrouzo to santiago - Arrival at St. James Resting Place - 11.91 miles - Total Miles to Date - 278.78 miles

Today is the day we walked into Santiago and to the cathedral that holds the remains of Saint James. As Sally and I walked the last 11 miles, we talked about the significance of our walk. We enjoyed the first 240 miles immensely. We met new people each day, and were surrounded by friends we met on previous days. The number of people was not overwhelming, and we felt we had a chance to say hello and introduce ourselves to nearly everyone we met. The route took us through the Meseta, the flat farm country  that stretches from Burgos over 100 miles to Astorga. It was exciting to hike through a landscape I had not visited before. From Astorga we entered the “mountains”, the hills of western Spain. Here again, the route was new and interesting.

Once we reached Sarria, the 100Km distance run to Santiago, the crowds grew in size 5 fold or more. It became overwhelming. You could not begin to meet all the people, let alone remember names or get to know them. We still had our circle of acquaintances, but now we were surrounded by crowds of unknowns. We both felt like lemmings marching to the sea instead of two people out for an adventure.

However, our friends did not feel the same. They were emotionally touched by their arrival to Santiago and the cathedral. D’Anne described doing a Facebook live recording of her arrival and having to stop recording and wipe her eyes and steady her voice, overcome with the emotion of the moment. She had walked 500 miles with this as her goal and she had done it and done it well. Between the thrill of accomplishing her physical goal and the spiritual aspect of performing a pilgrimage that has been followed for over a 1000 years, she was emotionally overrun.  What a wonderful thing!!

Talking with other friends, they too felt a powerful significance to their accomplishment on all levels. And looking around the plaza in front of the church where hundreds and hundreds of pilgrims high fived, knelt in prayer, snapped photos and selfies, hugged, raised their backpacks above their heads in triumph and sung celebratory songs we could see many, many shared this moment of joy.

So how did Sally and I fit into this spectrum?  I can’t speak for Sally. For myself I can say it was a hoot to walk down the final ancient cobblestone street, lined with souvenir shops, through the tunnel where the bagpiper plays and into the square where hundreds gathered. I have finished many, many hikes and a few much longer in distance than this one. But, I have never had a hike where the ending was so profound. Usually, you end up at a dusty trailhead in the middle of nowhere, get in a car and drive home. Here we had bagpipes, a huge plaza, a massive cathedral, a certificate of completion and 1000’s of people celebrating. That is one heck of a trailhead!! 

These past 22 days have been great. Great scenery. Great walking. Great people. Great experiences. I am so glad we came here and did this. Would I do it again? Not the same section, but I feel that way about any long trail. I don’t want to repeat trails. I like the experience of seeing country for the first time, not knowing what is up ahead and discovering as I go. I would come back and hike the first part of the “way” that we skipped, St. Jean in France to Burgos, about 150 miles. Or walk one of the other Camino’s, such as the Portugal or Northern or the Primitive. But my first love is wilderness walking on a trail carrying my supplies. Walking from cafe to cafe is fun and I would enjoy doing it again, but given the option of wilderness vs Camino . . . . 

We were up and out a few minutes before 6. We snuck out of the sleeping room where 12 others slept and moved to the kitchen, hoping not to disturb anyone. When we got to the kitchen, we found a man sleeping on one of the couches. What? We tried to stay quiet, but 4 or 5 other people soon joined us and the combined noise did not wake the sleeper as his snoring indicated. Breakfast of yogurt, crackers and cheese then taping sally’s toes and we were on our way.

It was strange this morning. We walked nearly half an hour without seeing another person. We expected the trail to be crowded with pilgrims anxious to reach Santiago, but apparently all the anxious ones spent the night closer to Santiago so they could arrive there earlier. About 7:00 we started to get overtaken with people, their headlamps lighting up the trail behind us. It didn’t get light enough to turn off the headlamps until about 8:10. By this time we were in a steady stream of people flowing toward the cathedral square. We stepped out of the flow now and then to get a treat at a way side cafe. As we approached the first cafe we saw D’Anne enjoying a pastry and beverage and we stopped in to sit a minute and say good morning. We got up and left before she finished, but 20 minutes later she passed us; being the speed walker she is. We stopped at a campground along the route and sat with Nancy and Maggie from Ireland for a bit, enjoying a Coke as they had tea and a pastry.

The landscape was changing. We were now in suburbia, walking by houses and such. We crested a hill to find a monument to John Paul II commemorating his visit to Santiago and a first glimpse of the city below, about 2.8 miles distant. From this point on we were in the city-house lined streets and then into the business district complete with traffic, crosswalks, stop lights and freeway overpasses. Pilgrims in front as far as you could see and pilgrims behind as far as you could see.

Eventually, we left the business district of the newer part of the town and entered the old part of town. The buildings were now stone, the streets stone. As the streets narrowed, the mass of pilgrims consolidated, not the shoulder to shoulder press of a mob, but close quarters nonetheless. A group of about 8 kids in front of us decided to walk the last distance barefoot and were carrying their shoes. The road started to slope downhill past many souvenir shops and the faint strains of bag pipe music could be heard in the distance. We had been walking the last 3/4 mile with Bridget of Germany, blocky woman with a hearty laugh that we had seen everyday, four or five times a day, for the past week. She was with us as we entered the square on the back side of the cathedral. We stopped for a photo, the bagpipes sounding louder, then walked down the sloping, cobblestone street under the arc where the bagpiper played, his sound echoing off the stones. The sound made me think of Robert Service’s poem about an enthusiastic bagpiper called, “How MacPhearson Held the Floor”. Through the arch and around the corner and we were in the plaza in front of the church. We were here!

We spent a little time in front of the church, then quickly scurried down the steep street and to the right to get our number to get us in line to get our Compostela. We followed a steady line of backpack laden souls into a building, down some stairs and into a room where a woman stood in front of a machine, pushing its button at each pilgrims request that caused the machine to print and eject a numbered ticket. The tickets could be held under a smartphone camera. Doing so launched a website showing which number you had and what number they were on. We were numbers 886 and 887. They were seeing number 358. At about 100 interviews an hour, we had about 5 hours to wait to get our certificates of completion.

Back up to the plaza for photos. While there we saw nearly everyone we had been hiking with. It was hard to fathom that they were all coming in within a few hours of us. Eventually, after many photos and lots of hugging, smiles and goodbyes, we found our way to Hospedale Mera. We checked in and crashed on the bed for a minute to rest, then got up to shower. Cleaned up, we headed out to tour the cathedral and then go for a late lunch. We knew we were having dinner with D’Anne, Regina and Sandy, but it wasn’t until 7:00pm. 

We felt like Chevy Chase in “Vacation”. We had walked all the way across Spain to the Cathedral in Santiago and it was closed!! Well, not completely, but there was major renovations going on and the inside was filled with scaffolding. Still we could get in and see part of the inside. The highlight was seeing the holy door that is only opened on Holy Years (2021 is the next holy year). We also go to walk up through the alter where we could hug the statue of St. James and then travel down into the crypt and see his silver coffin(?). If interested, google St. James for his whole story. After our walk through the cathedral, we stopped at a gift shop, then headed up the street to an Italian Restaurant for pizza, something we were both hungry for.

I always am surprised at the serendipity that happens on the PCT, but this next event rivals the PCTs best. As we sat there, on a side street 4 blocks from the cathedral square finishing our pizza who should walk by but Ferrari! We met Ferrari our first day on the “way”, just outside Burgos. As we walked in the dark we heard someone’s rapid clicking of walking sticks coming up behind us. It was two fairly short older men briskly walking and overtaking us. One spoke very broken English and said his amigo walked very quickly, like a Ferrari, even though he was 69 years old. We quickly applied our PCT training and named him Ferrari. We asked his name and he said he was slow, like a Renault. This started the friendship between us and Renault and Ferrari. We saw them every morning as they passed us in the pre dawn light, and we laughed at their names and our good fortune in see each other everyday. Well, we had not seen them for about 2 weeks. We knew they had moved ahead of us and we lamented seeing them again. And here was Ferrari walking past our table!  We shouted “Ferrari!!” He immediately turned, his face turning into a broad, delighted grin and came to our table. We stood to embrace him. With my very poor Spanish and his totally absent English a 20 minute conversation ensued. Believe it or not, we communicated. We typed our names, phone numbers and addresses into each other’s phones, used WhatsApp to test messages back and forth, hugged and again parted company. What fun!

We had to hustle to the Compostela office to get our certificates. My phone showed they were on number 820. Earlier, I had noticed the phone app was usually 20 or so behind the actual number, so we scurried to the office to find they were indeed on about 830. Waiting in the hallway for our number to come up we were surrounded by the people we had walked with. Michael and his wife from Ireland, Nancy and Maggie from Ireland, and about a dozen others that we cannot recall their names. While we watched the numbers slowly count up to ours we talked about the trip, each other’s homes and plans after the trip. Sally had number 885. I had 886. 884 came up. Sally got ready to go and 886 showed up first. In I went, wondering what was going to happen. Would they question my faith, my devotion, my beliefs? Would I have to answer ecclesiastical questions? I walked to my appointed point at the counter, handed over my number and my Credential. 

The credential is the pamphlet each pilgrim must carry with them to be admitted to an albergue. At each one your credential is stamped and dated. Most businesses and all cathedrals along the route can also stamp your credential. You must have two separate stamps per day during the last 100 kilometers. 

The woman seated at desk carefully scanned my credential, inspecting dates and names on the stamps. Finally, she grabbed a blank certificate and filled it out with my name. No questions. No quizzes. I asked if I could have the distance certificate as well, certifying how far I had walked. She said yes and filled that one out as well. I paid my 3€ for the distance certificate, 3€ for Sally’s and 2€ for a tube to help them survive until we got home and exited the building. It was now 6:15.  We had enough time to walk to our room, leave our stuff and head for dinner.

We arrived at the plaza in front of the cathedral to meet D’Anne, Regina and Sandy for dinner. We found D’Anne waiting. Regina and Sandy showed up a few minutes later. We headed up the restaurant filled street, looking for a place that suited us, jabbering and sharing stories of the “way”. We had a great dinner, each ordering something different off the menu and sharing it family style. During dinner Anna Marie (from Denmark) showed up out of nowhere to say hi and 5 minutes later Jen (from Germany) appeared and stayed, eating his dinner with us. About 9:30pm we moved across the street to a bar where D’Anne bought shots of something for everyone. Then it was time to break our fellowship. With promises to stay in touch we gave our last hugs and each went our ways. What a way to end a hike!!

The way



Red chair



Santiago in the background 



The crowd



The crowd gets bigger



Crossing the freeway. Something ancient pilgrims did not have to encounter 

Through the city the pilgrims walk

Entering the old city

Getting close to the cathedral

Behind the cathedral

Through the tunnel

Bagpipes as you enter pass through the tunnel on your way to the plaza

The plaza in front of the church 

Down to get the number for our Compostela 

Numbered ticket machine



Happy pilgrims with their numbered tickets



Erika and Japanese girl entering plaza



Us and the cathedral 

Inside the cathedral 

Saint James tomb

Ferrari!

Sally Nancy, Maggie and ?? Wait for their number to come up

Our Stamped Credentials

D’Anne, Regina, Chuck, Sally and Sandy

Shots at the bar

Cathedral at night. 

Day 21 - Wednesday, September 18, 2019 - Ribadiso to O Pedouzo - Strength in Numbers - 13.68 miles - Total Miles to Date - 266.87

The phrase in the title, “Strength in Numbers” usually applies to the size of a group and the power derived from all those bodies working together. However, for this walk on the Camino de Santiago, the phrase works equally well if those numbers represent miles rather than bodies. We have both gained in strength due to the number of miles we have walked over these past three weeks. Checking the GPS after today’s walk, I see that we are 289.5 miles from Burgos, our starting point. We skipped about 28 miles of walking by riding the bus into Leon and then out again. This still leaves us with about 260 miles walked. There are strength in those numbers. Evidence? We walked 14 miles today and Sally called it an “easy day”. Back on the first day we walked 13.xx miles and Sally slept the rest of the afternoon and night. There is strength in numbers.

I am not sure strength applies as an attribute when we refer to the number of people now walking the route. It is a steady, unbroken line of people. Thousands. With every step we take there are 10 people within 100 yards in front of us and the same behind. So many, I run into overload. I can’t greet each one as they pass, or spend the time walking and talking to get to know them. It is overwhelming. But, every once in a while, someone comes along that slows to walk our pace and spends the time to talk. This morning it was Milan.

Milan is from Serbia. He is 61, divorced with two sons, 31 and 26, and a daughter 24. He worked at a summer camp in Massachusetts as a teenager, then traveled briefly on the east coast. He made sure his sons and daughter got the same opportunity. All three kids still live with him in his home. The sons are working in their professions. The daughter not yet.  He was a soft spoken man, quick to smile. We probably covered about a mile during our conversations. When he retires in 3 years he hoped to travel, including in the United States. Before we parted, us to step off the route to get a mid morning sandwich, I got his email and sent him a note, inviting him to our home when he comes to the US. 

It is possible to make connections, even in this crowd.

The weather is staying warm. 60º was the low this morning, 83º the high. Luckily, the thunderheads that built yesterday are not forming today. For our walk into Santiago tomorrow the weather looks good, if not a bit to hot.

As with every morning, we were up at 5:00 and out the door by 6:00, navigating by street lamp and headlamp. The “way” was gentle, with hills both up and down, but nothing big. We gave ourselves 6 extra days in our walking plan, just incase we needed to nurse feet, take a rest day or visit something interesting. We took one of those days to visit Leon, but are now sitting on 5 days. We will spend one with a second day in Santiago, then bus to Finesterra (translated “the end of the earth”) instead of walking the 58 miles to it. We will spend one night there, then walk north to Muxia, a quaint coastal village 18 miles north and spend two nights there. That makes it the 25th of September and back to Santiago for one more night before flying to Madrid on the 26th. Of course, all this is tentative, dependent on weather, bus schedules and how we feel, but for today, it is the plan.

Our 13.4 miles today went by quickly and we were soon in O Podouzo. We found our albergue, checked in and took showers. It was starting to get hot, as it was 1;00PM (although if you read my dissertation on time zones in the European Union time zone you would know it is really about 11 in the morning.

Ever since we missed having octopus yesterday at the crowded restaurant we have been shooting for one. In town, one block over and above our albergue we found a octopus (pulpo) restaurant and sat down for some our first taste of traditionally cooked octopus. Traditional means it is boiled, then cut up and served drenched in olive oil and a spices. I thought it was tasty. Sally could not get past putting little suction cups in her mouth. She ate 2 or 3 bites, then the revulsion got to her and she couldn’t eat any more. She had bread and watched me down the rest. She filled up on bread and beer.

Next, to the grocery store to buy a light dinner for tonight, breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. Green salad for dinner, yogurt, nectarines and bananas for breakfast. Also some Muesli, some cookies and a chocolate bar (think Calories!) By the time we got back to the albergue it was a little after 5:00. Bad timing, too late to take a nap yet too tired to stay awake. I sat down and wrote this blog entry. Sally was on Facebook.

The “way” weaves to go by nearly every church on its route so pilgrims can stop to pray at each one. In the dark they are beautifully lit. 

Cafes open early to service the pilgrims

Not all is rosy on the route. Even though most cafes let you use their bathrooms without question, many stop on the way to relieve themselves then leave their toilet paper. Everywhere you step off the route looks like this. They need an education program to get people to carry out their used paper. 

Sunrise enroute. 8:20ish

Another beautiful tree lined section

A unique kind of beer garden 

Many many prople

Octopus (pulpo). It was good. Sally passed



The route (in purple) from Fisterra to Muxia that we will walk Sunday and Monday.  About 17 

Day 20 - Tuesday, September 17, 2019 - Palas De Rei to Ribadiso - “Walking on a Country Road” - 15.86 miles - Total Miles to Date - 253.20 miles

You might be wondering how the Spanish can have a trail that goes across their entire country, east to west, through farms, suburbs, cities, towns and forests. How does it negotiate private property? How can a complete route be established? 

We have been wondering the same thing, but we are beginning to see how it is done. Mostly, we walk on rural roads with occasional trails through the woods or paths alongside highways. It is not a wilderness walk. It is walking country roads for the most part. Capitalism has worked its magic and albergues, cafes, bag shipping services, taxis and a myriad of other support services have sprung up. There is so much support along the “way” and very reasonably priced that anyone can do this who can walk. You can live as high or as low as you want. The albergues operated by the cities, municipal albergues, are 5€ a night, super affordable. You can buy food in grocery stores very affordably. 40-50 days to do the whole thing is ideal. We have managed to stay around $50 a day, each day. This makes for a super cheap vacation.

Our albergue last night had a big community room outside our sleeping room. We were able to sneak out the door and eat and pack without disturbing anyone. We hiked out of town in the dark, but the morning was a warm 61º and very humid with thunderstorms forecast for later in the afternoon.

At about 3 miles we found a cafe open and had a soda each. Off again, we hiked through the dawning of the day. Even though we have been hiking 19 days, it is still surprising that it is still dark at 8:00am.

We had a destination in mind for lunch. The “party girls” had told us about an octopus restaurant in the town of Melide called Ezequiel, at mile 9.5 for the day. That is what we focused on as the miles flowed under our feet. We continued to meet tons of people along the way, as well as greeting those that we had met before.

We navigated our way through the fair sized city of Melide and found Ezequiel’s right on the “way”. We entered the broad opening and saw octopus boiling in a large kettle on a propane burner and a vast dining room with picnic style tables, already with 150 people seated and being rowdy. One man was cooking and preparing the octopus plates and two ladies were acting as waitresses. All three had stressed expressions on their faces as the rushed to try and service this huge crowd. The octopus plates looked great. But, after 10 minutes of sitting and watching the chaos we realized it would take an hour to be served and eat. The day was supposed to heat up to 80º by mid afternoon and we hoped to be done hiking before that happened. We abandoned ship and headed out again. About 1/2 a mile further, on the outskirts of town, we found a picnic bench in the shade of an ancient church and enjoyed bread, cheese, mixed nuts, nectarines, bananas and cookies. Good lunch and quick. A sweet old lady walking her dog stopped to talk with us as we ate.

The afternoon was uneventful, although the miles were wearing us down. We stopped at a couple cafes on the way for refreshment and to cool down, it was now approaching 80º.

We did our final descent into Ribadoso. At the bottom of the hill was a bridge across the creek. Pilgrims were laying in the creek and soaking their feet just outside the creek side albergue. We started regretting our decision to stay at a different one up the hill and away from the creek. But, it was rated well and something in the reviews made us pick it over this one. We hiked up the hill, the equivalent of hiking from Betty’s to the Morgans. As we approached the albergue on the hill we heard D’Anne yell down to us. We did not realize she was staying here as well. What a welcome surprise.

She was soaking her feet in a pool meant for exactly that purpose. I went into the building to register us for the night, then joined Sally and D’Anne soaking our feet.

We had met D’Anne a week ago in Rabanal. We bonded instantly over the PCT. She is starting in April to do the whole thing. We had a good time soaking our feet, then I slipped in to take a shower. After the shower, I found a table in the dining room and spent better than an hour writing. Sally showered, then rested. Sally and D’Anne came in. Sally had a beer and her and D’Anne talked while I wrote. 

The sky started thundering and lightning flashed. A few moments later the power went off. It was off for about half an hour

Jokingly, we moved to the “Dining Room” - a table for four, six feet away instead of two tables for two and all had hamburgers and fries for dinner. We went back out and soaked our feet some more, then headed to our separate rooms to pack and prepare for tomorrow. D’Anne injured her ankle today walking. No specific injury, more of an overuse injury. There was some discoloration of the ankle. We all have our fingers crossed that it won’t be a hinderance tomorrow. 

Remember Tanya and Karen from New Zealand? They will walk into Santiago tomorrow, along with Regina and Sandy!! Oh happy day!! We have been emailing Sandy and will meet them Thursday night for dinner in Santiago. It is almost complete!

With the party girls on the road to Miede

Sally happy with a real Pepsi



Octopus boiling on the stove



The restaurant famous

 for great octopus

Cool doors

Chuck and a mile post marker




Erica and ?? And Sally pose




The albergue by the river



Chuck puts his sheet on his bed



Our lodgings for the night

Day 19 - Monday, September 16,2019 - Portomarin to Palas de Rei - My Pack is Late - 15.33 miles - Total Miles to Date - 237.34 miles

We are getting close!  This will be our 18th day on the road and we are less than 60 miles from Santiago. Scoreboard please!  Walked so far (Portomarin) 252 miles. Still to go (Santiago) 57 miles. Today we will whittle off 15.43 of those miles in walking to Palas de Rei. 

It was nice to have our own room last night, especially when it comes to getting up and out in the morning. We can actually turn on a light!!  I was so tired yesterday that I did no preparing for this morning. I had my stuff flung across the room. But, with the light on and  the ability to move about the room without worrying about making noise I was packed and ready in about 10 minutes. 

Downstairs, we had yogurt in the kitchen for breakfast, deposited my pack to be transported to our next destination and were out the door at 5:58.

Navigating by GPS thru the small town we found the “way”. We dropped steeply to the river/lake level, crossed a tributary arm on a bridge and began the long but not difficult 8 mile climb out of the town. We climbed 1200’ over those 8 miles, with a few short downhill moments.

I have to admit, the days are beginning to run together. The terrain is beautiful, and interesting, but there is little to distinguish one day from the next. Rolling hills, forests and fields, tractors and cows, “way” side cafes and albergues. The walking takes us about 8 hours a day, about 13-16 miles. We stop every few hours (or sooner as the day wears on) for soda, ice cream, cake, or beer. We walk with the crowds. We see hundreds of people a day. With Sally, we recognize or are recognized by many of them each time we stop at a cafe. The number of people has increased again. When we walked into our albergue in Palas de Rei for the night and got to talking to Manuel, the manager he told us there are 2500 beds in town and nearly every night they are all filled!

We met two adorable girls today, Erica from Mexico nearly finishing her PhD in sociology, in particular, immigration policies (very timely) and ?? from Japan. We walked and talked with them, sharing a table at a cafe rest stop. We saw Raluca and Jergen again, as we have nearly everyday for 3 weeks.

Once in the albergue, we looked for my pack which we had shipped from Palas de Rei (3€) but was not there. hmmmmm. Manual was wonderful and called to determine what had happened. He said the van was so full of packs and suitcases that mine was buried and they were not able to get it out when they stopped by. They were going to deliver to other albergues to empty the van, then return to deliver mine and another womans. While waiting, we walked down the stairs into town to the grocery store and bought breakfast, lunch and dinner and checked out the restaurants on our way back.

Arriving at the albergue, my pack had arrived. We showered, then started dinner-noodles, carrots, mushrooms and a leek with a chicken buillon cube. Delicious. I wrote for an hour, then we went to town for local dinner. We sat outside with the “party girls” that we had met on the “way” (Sally named them). We enjoyed scallops (10 on the shell, delicious) and French fries.

Satiated, we wandered back up the steps to our albergue and into our room, prepped our packs for the morning, and were asleep by 8:45. Great day.

Typical town scene 



MJ from South Korea



?? From Japan and Erica from Mexico 



The crowds



The crowds



The “Party Girls” (as Sally called them)



The “way” is beautiful much of the way. 

RaLuca and Juergen

Two ladies from Ireland

Sally with her two favorite beverages 

Day 18 - Sunday, September 15, 2019 - Barbadelo to PortoMarin - The Crowds Begin - 11.11 miles - Total Miles to Date - 222.01

Yesterday we passed through Sarria to Barbadelos. Today we were expecting to see increased numbers of people as Sarria is a favorite starting point for those that have only a week to do the Camino. Also, the arbitrary distance of 100Km walked was assigned to those that want to get their certificate in Santiago, a Compostela. Can I say we were not disappointed? The number of people is 4 fold the numbers we have seen to date. Crowds of people. You are rarely “alone” on the trail. Because we walk slowly, most people pass us during the day-we meet most people. Sally is such a wonderful greeter, we have made acquaintance with a majority of the crowd. 

The route today was nearly all rural, walking past cow barns, milking parlors, pig pens, open fields and tiny villages of only a few stone houses and outbuildings.  Thorsten and Verena of Germany caught up with us fairly early and walked and talked with us for an hour. Both are super sweet kids. Thorsten works in the government. He distributes licenses for gun ownership. Verena manages marriage licenses. 

By 9:30 we had reached the 100Km marker, 100Km from Santiago. The pilgrimage was originally sold (1000 years ago) as a ticket to heaven-travel to Santiago and you get admission. It was also used for indulgences. It never stated how far you had to walk. The church has now decried that 100Km is the required distance-hence so many starting at Sarria.

Our destination was Portomarin. This old city was right on the banks of the river, that is until 1956 when a hydroelectric project was to flood the town. The whole town was moved up the hill, including the stone cathedral. It was taken apart stone by stone and reassembled on higher ground. This also means that unlike other towns where we drop into the town on the river, we had to climb up from river to get into the town, now located on a side hill.

It was a cute town, and only 70 years old. It had all the amenities of a town we needed, a nice grocery store (supermercado), a bank machine (banco) and many restaurants to choose dinner from.

However, lets tell the story in order. Both of us had been dragging from the first step this morning. We pushed through the day, doing 11.4 miles. We climbed the hill to our albergue and acquired a private room with a bath down the hall. The economics of this makes it a no brainer. 10€ a bed times 2 or 30€ for a private room. We took the private room. Cozy and comfortable with sheets(!) and blankets(!). We both showered and crawled into our Dick Van Dyke Show style twin beds and were quickly asleep. We slept from 1:30 to 3:30, then got up to do our chores, grocery shopping, bank machine to get cash (no one accepts credit cards in the small towns, everything is cash) and get a bite to eat.

Groceries and bank were quickly dispatched, each being less than a 5 minute walk from our room. We went to a recommended restaurant for 10€ pilgrim meal. As we were finishing John and Dana from Durango, Colorado walked by on the street. We invited them to our table and visited for half an hour before excusing ourselves and heading back to our room to sleep some more. We back in our twin beds by 7:15, thankful for the quiet and the chance to rest and sleep. 

The walking was great today, too bad we were working so hard to enjoy it. With all the sleep we clocked this afternoon and during the night, maybe tomorrow will be a better day!

At the 100 Kilometer marker. 

Thorsten and Verena 

Someone is riding their Unicycle. Will this earn them indugwnce

Cow barn converted to souvenir and grocery shop

Farm equipment is a common occurrence. They use the same roads the Camino does. 

Sally finds a red chair. 

These maize storage buildings are everywhere. 

Say it all

The cathedral they moved.