I headed out to another beautiful day at about 8:15. The town was pretty quiet. The new way headed out of the main square.

It was amazing how quickly the town disappeared in this direction. At one point I could look back and see the cathedral.

Quickly I was in the woods once again. As I walked it was odd how quiet it was. I saw very few pilgrims and very few locals. Even in the towns it was silent. The highlight of the walk was an old stone bridge across a river near a small cascade.

I even found a chance for a selfie.

I arrived in the destination town about 1:30. I was first at the albergue. They had a washer/dryer do I washed all my clothes. Slowly over the next hours more people arrived. Probably 20 total for a place with 40 beds. They are a mix of people, none I know. A South African woman living in Australia, a Japanese couple, an Italian guy…

The albergue is nice. On the second floor with large doors opening into small balconies with nice views of the street.

There was a nice store so just bought some snack food and wine and sat on one if the balconies and watch the night fall while watching the slow activity on the street. Tomorrow is a longer day than normal, 32 km. then I should reach the coast.

Well it has been an amazing two days in Santiago. I was afraid I’d get bored but far from it. I went to the pilgrims mass at noon. It was crowded but I had a good seat. Toward the end they hoisted the botafumeiro. It was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like it. I actually got to see it two other times. I’d go again if I had the chance.

At the end of the mass I found Martin and Jane. I hadn’t seen them in two weeks. It was cool finding them again at the end of the camino. We arranged to meet for lunch. I met up with them and Cathy and Haley from Canada. We had pizza then spent a couple of hours at an outside bar having drinks (the life of a pilgrim).

Later we walked back into town. We all hugged and said our goodbyes since it was unlikely we’d cross paths again.

This morning I got up, had breakfast and went out to see the town. The weather has been fantastic. It is apparently very unusual to have such amazing weather this time of year. It is cool, clear and amazing blue skies. I went to the cathedral to do the things pilgrims do. First I visited the relics of Saint James in a crypt under the alter.

Then I climbed up behind the alter. There is a huge statue of Saint James and pilgrims can go and give him a hug, so I did.

As I walked around town I kept seeing pilgrims I’d crossed paths with. Miriam from Australia.

The Spanish ladies that stayed at a small albergue where we had a great conversation though they knew no English and we knew little Spanish.

I even saw Sheshawn my stalker. I was sitting in a pew during mass. I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned around and she smiled and waved. I looked back a bit later and she was gone. How appropriate.

I had run into Helen and Lorain from Canada. We’d walk together often. Lorain had heard about a roof top tour of the cathedral so we agreed to go at 6:00. We met and if was terrific. The time has changed here so during the 1 hour tour the sun set and dusk grew. We walked around on the roof looking at the views and features. One of my favorite activities.

Afterward I took Lorain and Helen out for tapas. It was delicious.

We had 3 glasses of wine each, a bunch of amazing tapas and a creme brûlée. Total €44, unbelievable.

Well tomorrow it’s back to the life of a pilgrim for a little bit longer. My plan is to leave about 8:00 am. I’ll take 4 days to Muxia then 2 more to Finistere.

Thanks to everyone for the great wishes of congratulations. It’s been a blast and I’ll continue for a bit longer.

Most people in my albergue woke and left around 6:00 trying to get to Santiago for the noon pilgrims mass. I’ll wait and go tomorrow. As I got ready I thought last albergue of this camino, last loading of the back, last breakfast….
It was another nice walk in the morning. There were more pilgrims at the start headed for the final leg.

But soon I was alone in a wood path once again.

I walk slowly and stopped several times for coffee or a drink. At each stop I’d see a few people I knew. At one I came across Fiona. She is from South Africa living in New York.

We walked together for a bit. As we approached the city she stopped and went on to enter the city by myself. It was Saturday and many people were on the streets. Eventually I could see the cathedral in the distance.

Finally after walking into the old town I got to the square (it was surprisingly quiet). I sat in the shade to watch the activity and other pilgrims arrive.

After a while I had someone take my arrival photo.

With my pack on my back I headed to the pilgrim office for my final stamp and my compestella. 39 days, 800 km, 480 miles and a few blisters….I made it.

I got a room at an old monetary. It is an amazing building. My room is small and basic but it has a double bed, no one sleeping above me and towels!!! The little pleasures.

After showering and resting I headed out to see the old town. I talked to several pilgrims I knew. I think more will arrive tomorrow. As I walked the narrow streets I saw Marco and Claudia from San Marino. They had made it to Santiago!! They asked to buy me a drink. We sat at a cafe and chatted about the trip. Claudia said she cried when she arrived. They were very nice. I got a picture before they left. They gave me a big hug and said goodbye.

It was a special day. I’ll sleep well tonight.

I was surprised but today was a very nice walk. I figured as I approached Santiago the way would be more commercial. Instead the walk was through very nice wooded pathways away from the road. The landscape may not have been as nice but it was very enjoyable. Since I’d stayed in a small village with a small albergue I walked much of the day alone.

I did notice that the houses are much nicer. I realized that while it may take me days to get there these people can arrive in Santiago in 10-20 minutes. So these houses are nicer, pretty gardens (more flowers less vegetables) and nicer cars.

I have continued to be fascinated by the horreos (thanks to Kathleen for the identification, I’ve been wowing pilgrims with my local knowledge). I finally spotted one being used. An old guy was carrying vegetables to store.

I also noticed today that some of the horreos are larger. Kind of like a double or triple wides.

I had a nice surprise today. I usually try to stop around 11:00 for a snack. As I walked up to the bar I saw a familiar face. It was Kathy and her daughter Halley from Canada. I had walked with them several times early on but hadn’t seen them for about 20 days. It was like as reunion.

Later I came across Lisa a Pasteur from Minnesota. She walks very slow and sometimes I walk with her for a while to rest. While walking today I passed the town where I planned to stay. Now I’m only 20km from Santiago. I’ve decided to go ahead and walk in tomorrow. I’ll take it slow and try to appreciate the final leg of this stage of the camino.

I also got a text today from Martin. I passed him so hopefully tomorrow I’ll see him and Jane on the way into town.

And finally today I saw my friend Marco from San Marino. He is too funny. He was dragging along. He said he walked until 8:00 last night. 6 hours longer than me to cover the same distance. He said he needed a coffee for energy and if God was good there’d be a cafe. Around the next corner there was a cafe, he was very happy. He insisted on getting a picture with me before I departed. I hope he makes it to Santiago.

I had a couple of good comments I thought I’d include here. First.

John wants to know, how you are dealing with drinking water. Where do you get it and how are you carrying it?

It’s odd just this morning I was thinking about my drinking water. One of the great things about the camino is the great infrastructure in place to support the pilgrims. I have gone for 35 days carrying from 1/2 liter to 1.5 liters of water. All along the way are fuentes (fountains). Each town and village has them. Some are simple spigots others are elaborate structures. Depending on the heat, length between villages etc I fill my Fanta bottle (1/2 liter) and Evian bottle (1 liter) appropriately. It has all worked out great.

Kathleen asked me:

Your map shows you closing in on Santiago, are you excited or sad that the trek is winding down.

It’s interesting while for 35 days Santiago has been the destination, as I approach its importance seems to diminish. While I hope the arrival at the cathedral and going to the pilgrims office for the Compostela will be exciting, I’ve started feeling like Santiago will be another large city like Burgos and Leon. I think I’ll like enjoy it. I hope to see some pilgrims I hadn’t seen for a while. I’ll get a private room and I’ll eat some good food but the camino will continue (just like In Leon and Burgos). My plan is to get to Santiago Sunday, tour on Monday then head out. I’ll go first to Muxia, a quiet small rural town on the coast. Then head to Finistere. Here is where I think the camino will end. The end of the earth.

We’ll see.

Today I crossed paths with the pilgrims from San Marino. As I walked along I heard from ahead (in a heavy Italian accent), hey Texas!! It was the couple I’d shared a table with. Their names are Marco and Claudia. Marco (younger than me) was walking slowly, but smiling. He said he was sore. He had a big pack but it wasn’t strapped around his waist. I tried to tell him but he seemed happy as he was. I don’t think they are staying in Albergues because he talked about the hydrotherapy he’d had last night and the pool where he stayed. It was 10:00a.m. and they’d only made a few km. They said they were going about 28km, a long day. I hope the make it. Maybe I’ll see them tomorrow.

I stayed in a nice Albergue tonight and had the luxury of doing all my laundry, even my bed liner. The little things are so nice. The crazy bedbug lady with the issues showed up. I’ve learned she lives in Mexico with her Mexican husband growing coffee. She is unhappy because she thought she’d be able to open a B&B and visit with people. I kept it to myself that a B&B in northern Mexico might not be a big tourist draw at this time. She keeps asking where I’m going next. She may be my first camino stalker. Hopefully you’ll hear from me tomorrow.

It is getting harder to leave in the daylight each morning. Today sunrise was at 8:51. I hit the trail about 8:15. Light was just starting to show in the sky. It was dark and misty. I could see shadows of other pilgrims ahead but navigating was hard. Slowly the light came to the sky.

Over the last few days there have been many spider webs in the trees. Some even floating through the air. In today’s fog they took on a new look. Some pretty.

Some scary.

It was foggy until nearly noon. I planned to stop early today and found a little (8 person) albergue alone in the countryside. So far I’m the only one there. We’ll see if others stop.

I chose this place because there’s an old church with connections to the Knights Templar nearby. I got the owner to make me a sandwich and I headed off for the short 2km walk. It was a church from the 13 century with some interesting carvings and frescoes.

I sat behind the church in the sun and had my sandwich. Delicious.

Only 4 people showed up at the albergue tonight. A German guy, Hank with a good sense of humor, a french woman that kept to herself and an American living in Mexico, Sheshawna. She has lots of issues including a possible case of bedbugs (plus an unhappy marriage, constantly stretching while talking to you, and menopause induced sleeping issues). We ate dinner together in the small bar (no one else was there). A good soup, fried calamari and tart Santiago (almond tart with powdered sugar), wine and bread.

Unfortunately we ate early so now I’ve got to try and pass some time before going to bed. I think this is a late sleeping group so I don’t want to go to bed too soon.

The day stated off like usual. I headed out at 8:15, first light. I had taken about 20 steps when my one walking pole bent. Disaster!!! I love my stuff, I have nothing I want to leave behind. I stood in the near dark trying to fix it. I figure this was it, I’d have to learn to walk without a pole. Suddenly I was able to get the bent part back into the next telescoping piece. Hallelujah, Santiago has saved me. I continue happily on my way. (Ironically at a stop later in the day I left the pole behind and had to hike back a little way to retrieve it. I’m not sure it’s going to make it to the end). The walk toward Sarria was pretty. The sky was clear but mist was settled into the low places.

I walked on about 45 minutes to Sarria. Sarria is significant on the camino. In order to get a compostela (certificate of completion) in Santiago you must walk at least 100km. Sarria is the town that is closest to the 100km mark. So a large number of pilgrims start the camino in Sarria. Sure enough as I left Sarria the way seemed more crowded. The pilgrims seemed chipper, cleaner with more and nicer stuff. But as usual as I walked the people thinned out and before long I was walking alone.

Twice as I walked I came across pilgrims I knew that I hadn’t seen for about 10 days. It was fun to catch up and hear about other pilgrims we knew.

Yesterday the walk was in the low mountains with lots of vegetation but all along I noticed the beautiful stone walls. Today the walk was more in farmland (cattle). But still there were these amazing walls. The lined the path, they outlined the fields, they were everywhere. It is hard to imagine how many centuries it took to build them and how many centuries they have existed.

As I walked today I saw an odd tall skinny building. Before long another, then another. I’ve not seen them before and wondered what they were.

I asked a couple of people but no one knew. At one point I saw one with a door in the side that was open. Inside it looked like beehive boxes. So I’m guessing they are for bees that help pollinate the gardens. I’ll keep researching.

A few other odd sightings today. First an ostrich looking mean and pecking viciously at the fence.

Then I saw a camino traffic jam. I definitely yielded to oncoming traffic.

Today I also passed the marker indicating 100km to Santiago. It’s hard to believe I’ve come 700km and the end is approaching.

The albergue I wanted to stay in tonight was full (the first time on my camino). Probably because of the Sarria pilgrims but it was small only 8 beds. Instead I went on to Portomarin. The albergue was ok but nothing to be excited about. At 6:00 I walked up to town for a beer. I sat out on the church square where the local action was happening. The place served pizza ao I decided I was ready for a change in menu and stayed for dinner.

A group of pilgrims asked if I wanted to join them inside but I declined saying I was working in my blog (plus outside was much better). After a bit a very attractive man and woman asked if they could share my table. I said of course. They had great Italian accents. We talked and they were from the Republic of San Marino. Its a small country totally surrounded by Italy. We talked about their history, their politics, U.S. Politics, George Bush 43 and the equally questionable Italian government. They had seen the movie The Way (unusual for people from non-English countries) and wanted to go. They only had a week so we’re on their first day having left from Sarria this morning. They were sore, happy and excited. It made me realize that the Sarria pilgrims are looking for the way just like everyone else. The Sarria pilgrims made me come to Portomarin and I’m glad they did. I left the San Marino couple with a handshake and a Buen Camino.

I woke to the rustling today and figured it was 5:30. I checked my watch and it was 7:35!! Breakfast was 7:30 to 8:00, It was quiet in the room so I rushed down thinking I’d be first and there were already 3 people. I’d really been sleeping. It was a nice breakfast.

At 8:30 I headed out. As I went through town I heard chickens clucking in an old house. Since I sent Carolyn cat pictures yesterday I figured I’d send Phillip a chicken picture.

Today was a nice climb to O’Cebreiro. A 600 m climb. The entire walk today was on nice paths. The path was steep at times but the views were well worth it.

It was a very clear day and the views off in all directions was grand.

About half way up was the entry into Galicia the final region along the camino.

Finally at the top the wind picked up and it turned cool.

The little village of O’Cebreiro was cute. It had several traditional Galician huts with thatch roofs.

At the top the path continued pretty level through several villages but still magnificent views. I arrived in the small village of Fonfria. The albergue was very modern. It has a living room with a wall of windows out on to the mountains. The place isn’t very crowded most people have a bottom bunk and several bunks are empty. The Camino is certainly slowing down.

Tonight was a communal meal (defined as a meal with no options). It was very good. A traditional Galician soup (fresh vegetables), a dish of beef, mushrooms, peas, potatoes, a nice tart, good bread and lots of wine.

I’m back in the nice living room and there are 3 Canadian filmmakers that have been along the camino that are filming in the next room. They are either producing the next movie of the camino or are they are trying to pick up girls. I’m not sure which. Probably both.

I sat next to a South African woman at dinner tonight. She is some sort of writer based in New York. She was very well traveled and raved about New Zealand.

I’ve looked at my schedule and I think I’m one week from Santiago. Hard to believe. I’ll try to not think about the destination but focus on the remaining journey.

I walked into town this morning for breakfast, as I finished it began to rain. It was dark and the street lights were reflecting off the wet streets.

I took an alternate path today that climbed into the mountains. The path immediately started to climb. It was steep but the rain stopped and the started peeking through the clouds. For just a few moments a rainbow appeared.

As I got higher I could look back and see backward two or three days. The sun rays were breaking through the clouds.

As I climbed I came up to a group of Canadians. They had been walking the camino since September 4 (I started on the 17th). They didn’t carry there bags but they were in there 70s. They moved fast. Very impressive.

The views were great and interspersed were great looking gardens. One was full of very large pumpkins.

The mountain trails were really nice.

Once the trail came back to the valley bottom it was nice but often was along a road (with very little traffic). I walked for a while with a South Korean guy. He’d been to Texas and his comment was there were lots of very big people. His take was there were too many donut shops. He said there are donut shops everywhere. He said more of these people needed to do the camino. Hilarious.

Down in the valley was interesting. Small villages, a river, farms….however above all of this the big high way crisscrosses in the sky. The speed life vs the slower camino life.

Martin (of Martin and Jane) had texted me about a nice albergue, so I headed that way. It was a great find. Small, only 13 beds and offered a vegetarian meal. There were only four of us at the meal. A wonderful pumpkin soup, two big toasts with humus, a salad, delicious desert and wine. The room, dinner and breakfast €15. A bargain.

High above the village was a very old church.

It’s funny yesterday I was at the albergue and didn’t know anyone. I had slipped back into a different pilgrim group. Today, I was at the bar and chatted with two pilgrims I’d passed on the road. At dinner there was Edward from Australia that I’ve chatted with occasionally, a woman I met last night and a young German girl truly looking for her way. It’s odd to connect so quickly with a new group but really nice.