Day 31 - Santiago to Santiago

No walking today. Looking for souvineers for the kids and relaxing at the pilgrims house until tonight's flight to Madrid 

What did we do today?

16 kilometer walk to Santiago. Basically 4 1/2 hours but it was pitch black when we started at 5 am.

Got our Compostellas from the pilgrims office which officially says we completed one of the three Christian pilgrimages. 

Found a room for rent in the center of town and checked in and showered. Then went to explore. 

Walked through the museum, very cool. Went to the cathedral and embraced the statue of saint James and prayed at his burial site (traditional items at the end of the pilgrimage for Catholics). 

They had already started the pilgrims mass but had priests in confessionals all around the cathedral. Io found one who spoke English, Irish priest, and went to confession. It was actually fun since he was very humorous and serious at the same time.

Walked around town taking pictures and visited the park. Then found the pilgrims house and used the complimentary wifi to update the blog.

Tomorrow we have a full day to explore the town. We will catch the bus to the airport at 8:30 and our flight to Madrid takes off at 10:30. 

No use getting a hotel so we are going to hang at the airport for our 7:30 check in for the flight home.

Day 30-Oteira to Santiago de Compestella

We made it!!! WIFI is very slow here, will add pictures when we find better WIFI.

Updated:

We started at 5am so no pictures the first two hours.

These markers have been along the route but it has been 200 kilometers since the kilometer count was included.

Walking through the suburbs was very nice

Some streets had the shells embedded in the pavement 

Even tiny bridges in Spain are beautiful 

ARRIVED!!

Day 29- Bandeira to Oteira

No wifi will update tomorrow. Tomorrow 16 kilometers to santiago and the end of the  camino. 

Updated: 

Big train bridge

Day 28- A Laxe to Bandeira

Frustrating walk. It's Sunday so nothing is open. Hard to get going without a coffee.

Some pretty walking though

Ended up in a hostel instead of the alberque. It cost 2 euros more but it saved us a two hour wait and it is air conditioned.

Plans for last week

Sunday - 16 kilometers to Bandeira

Monday - 17 kilometers to Outeiro

Tuesday - 16 kilometers to Santiago de compostella. Arrive by 10:00

Wait in line for compostella

Get to alberque and drop off packs

Tour cathedral

Wednesday spend day looking around Santiago. 10:30 pm flight to Madrid

Thursday 10:30 am flight to Chicago

Eat chik fil a

Eat bbq

Friday: sit and don't walk

Saturday back to work

Day 27-O Castro to A Laxe

In a laxe, nothing special and the walk was very bland. 3 days to Santiago de compostella.

Sad to see a catholic school no longer in use probably due to a lack of kids.

Day 26-Cea to O Castro

Only 14k but lots of uphill walking. Nothing particularly picture worthy.

There is one spot where the Camino parallels a freeway with a fence. Pilgrims have started decorating it

Tomorrow is 18 kilometers to A Laxe

Day 25- Ourense to Cea

Hottest day of the Camino and it included a 3 kilometer uphill stretch that was brutal.

Kind of bummed. Leaving Ourense this morning saw a section that was beautiful but it was too dark to photograph. This is all I could get

The roman bridge leaving town

The funky car bridge

The first clue the train station is near

About half way to Cea we found Casa Cesar. He is a retired cab driver who gives pilgrims a spot to sit and have coffee and cake. Would not accept payment

Cea is beautiful with an awesome town square

Brutally hot so we continued one kilometer to our alberque. 

What is it like to do a Camino?

Imagine walking for most of the day with 25 pounds in a backpack. Hills and valleys, rocky ground and sand, unrelenting Spanish sun beating down on you.

Physically it is hard. Popping ibuprofen before you even start to kill the aches from yesterday. Sore feet and knees and back. That is the physical side.

Emotionally? Time to think. Concentrating on your next footstep tens of thousands of times in a row frees your mind. No tv, text messages, phone calls, appointments, and the only demands are to make the next town.

Time to consider what is important and what was not. Time to see the world at walking pace and not 70 miles an hour. Time to appreciate the taste of food when you are famished and to appreciate the effort that went into it. And most importantly time to consider all the time you have wasted. 

Every night laying in bed, feeling the aches, thinking about the distance to cover tomorrow. Every day latching onto thoughts until you have thought them through. Regrets, pain, fears, and desires boiled down to just making it to the next town. 

Sometimes wondering why life was so chaotic before. Did you need to waste time on that or spend time away from them? A distillation of your life into just the moment. A consideration that perhaps what you have spent valuable time worrying about did not matter. 

An understanding of time becomes apparent. The realization that a month out of your life has actually freed up time for you. A promise to yourself to savor the moments when you get back. A belief that all the heat and walking and pain and restless nights have prepared you to look anew at what happens around you every day with new eyes.

And lastly the realization that if I had only done this 10 years ago how different life would have been. And planning the next Camino....

Day 24-Xunqueira de Zambia to Ourense

22 kilometer walk. Started an hour before sunrise and there were not a lot of things to take pictures of. The last 8 kilometers included an industrial park so not pretty. 

Ourense however is amazing...

Day23-Vilar de Barrio to Xunqueira de Zambia

Good day today. 14 kilometers without any major up or down hills.

Started out through farm fields

And some small villages

Ended on a forest road

Along the way saw hundreds of these things in front of houses

I assume they are either traditional and used in festivals or that's where you stick your mother in law (just kidding barb)

The town is what you think of as a European small city. Cobblestone streets, huge church, beautiful shops and public squares.

Tomorrow is a big day

We will be going to Ourense tomorrow. It is the last big city and we will get to within 100 kilometers of Santiago de compostella. 

100 kilometers on foot is the minimum to get the certificate in Santiago. No more options to jump ahead at that point. A week from tomorrow we should be at the end of this long walk. I can honestly say that even with all the aches and pains I would not have missed this time with Austin for anything. 

Day 22-Albergueria to Vilar de Barrio

Best walk to date. Just 9 kilometers (5 1/2 miles) mostly downhill. The town we are in is great but the alberque kitchen has everything but a pot or pan to cook in so we are scrounging for cheap food at cafés. 

From a distance with morning fog burning off

Local church 

Local square

Worlds smallest gas station 

Tomorrow is a 14 kilometer day but a lot of kids join the camino in this town  so we have to get to the next town before they fill up all the beds.