O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela 19.5 km

Although the albergue was quite comfortable some of the residents robbed me of a good night’s sleep. An elderly French couple  competed with eachother to see who could make the most disturbance – he with his loud snoring or she with her hacking cough. It was a tie. Then three Spanish pilgrims who returned one minute before the door automatically locked at 23:00 proceeded to make a din for some time, and then disturbed everyone again in the morning when they roused at around 05:45 and whispered at a volume I have only known the Spanish to be capable of. And finally a very sweet South African couple thought I would benefit from a hand on my shoulder and a prayer offered up to the lord, which was very weird but rather sweet. 

We’re out of the albergue at 7:29. It’s chilly again but with little wind and no immediate fog although we can see it in the distance. We are fairly soon onto a woodland track where we stay for a good long while. There are many pilgrims on the trail, a bunch of whom have stopped to listen to a guy playing the gaita (Galician bagpipes).

The first half of the stage is almost entirely through woodland and as we get closer to Santiago we walk through small villages. The sun becomes very bright but it remains quite chilly. 

This gorgeous guy was standing by, waiting for some attention. 

Then my little friend popped by to say hello again today. 

Just after we walk past Santiago airport we see signs of a protest about an industrial estate planned to be constructed directly alongside the camino path. You can follow the link in the QR code if you wish to sign the protest. 

Mikey and I stick together all the way and decide not to take any rest stops today and aim to reach Santiago by noon, which we did with twenty minutes to spare. 

We’re staying again at the Hospederia San Martín Pinario a posh hotel, previously a monastery, that allows pilgrims to stay in the small fourth floor rooms (previously monastic cells) for a very reasonable rate. It’s situated directly opposite the north door of the cathedral. The rooms are very basic but the building is impressive, very beautiful. 

We’re sharing a twin room and I take a long, hot shower whilst Mikey goes out to explore and meet up with our new friends.  Then we amble to the pilgrims’ reception office to claim our compostelas which is a very streamlined process these days. We pop into the parador for chocolate con churros, but they don’t serve churros and the chocolate doesn’t comply with the ‘spoon standing up on its own’ standard. Quite disappointing. 

We go our separate ways for a while. I wander around to my favourite square, Praza de Quintana for a while. I’m still trying to replace my favourite mug that I smashed before my last camino with Mikey. In my wandering I pass the cafe/patisserie, that I thought had shut up shop, and pop in to sample their exemplary chocolate con churros. It most definitely passes muster.  The things I have to do to check that standards aren’t slipping.

The protesters against soaring Spanish rental costs are still camping out in Praza do Obradoiro

We’re planning to join our friends for supper later and then tomorrow it’s home time. Another adventure completed. Mikey has enjoyed the experience and has been an absolute star 🤩⭐️

I actually saw the ‘shadow of the pilgrim’ in Plaza de la Quintana for the first time this evening. That was fun.

I spent way too much time before this camino worrying about the weather and the suitability of the route that I choose. I feared that the terrible storms that battered the UK immediately after we set off would spread into northern Spain. I prepared for very cold and windy weather that I anticipated would greet us on the high passes of the Primitivo, and then I worried about my fitness to walk this challenging route so many years after my first experience of it.

It was certainly challenging and I am definitely aware of my advancing years, but the weather couldn’t have been more perfect (only half a day of rain). Maybe the ski mittens I carried along the way will be appreciated this winter in the UK – I certainly didn’t need them on this trip.

Mikey’s boot malfunction on day one could have been a disaster but great good luck was on his side and the one and only pair he tried in the shop seemed good enough – he did get a pinky blister a couple of days ago but that is par for the course on the camino.

All in all it’s been a great experience for us both. We walked through some amazing scenery, pushed ourselves (well, I certainly did), met some lovely fellow pilgrims and had a jolly good time.

Many thanks to all who have read and commented. I wasn’t sure about blogging for this camino but I’m glad I did and I really appreciate your input.

Until the next time…