Oct 28th Santander

I left the refugio to find a beautiful day. God it felt good to be alive. Santander, it's sheltered harbour and sandy beaches, green hills, and mountains beyond with warm sunshine. What a contrast with Santiago !
What to do with the ferry not leaving until 9.30 in the evening ? Walk of course, and sight-see leisurely.
By 10a.m. I was in t-shirt and shorts and it got up to 25°
The problem with strolling for me is that my back was aching by mid afternoon.
I got onto the ferry and suddenly it's French prices for beer, twice the price of a a Spanish bar.
Farewell my beloved Spain. I'll hopefully be back in March to carry on walking the GR7.

Oct 27th Santander

Day 74

I probably have walked 1000 miles which was my goal. aka the Proclaimers ! ("I've walked 500 miles and I'll walk 500 more", or something like that)
I booked a coach to Santander, and a ferry to Plymouth. So in the morning after a prolonged breakfast and goodbyes with Anne as she walked on, I had a 9 hour coach ride to Santander.
It would've taken over 3 weeks to walk it.
Santander provided me with a Pilgrims refuge, as it's on the camino del norte. and a lively city. Lots of branches of the Bank of Santander !

Oct 26th Santiago de Compostella

Day 73  

A rest day. Anne moved over to my hotel to share my room, and the cost of the room. Albergues are €12 here.
She was hungover, so had a bit of a kip, whilst I went to the cathedral for midday mass and the pilgrims blessing. It was a bit boring, after a wander round the catheral I went for a beer. It was raining and cool, no bueno ! No one was about so I wandered back to the cathedral just as the incense burner thing was being swung back and forth. It is very impressive and 6 men pull on a rope to get it swinging. It's what most people go to the mass for probably !
After a late lunch with Anne we chilled out in our room. It was raining steadily.
The weather forecast is for rain each day until next monday. I'm not walking to Finisterre in the rain.
The weather  for Barcelona is good and  a flight is only €110 return. mmm a few days there then walk to finisterre next week !
Hotels are expensive there and I'm not into hostels any more after the snorers.
After thinking on it for a few hours, I decided the most economic thing to do was finish my walk here. Blimey.
So it's a bus to Santander tomorrow and the ferry to Plymouth wednesday evening - my walks finished - rain stopped play for this fair weather walker.

Oct 25th Santiago de Compostella

Day 72    14.3 miles    Total 951

Oh god ! it's the last leg into Santiago,it's the journey not the destination, that's so true. I fear it's going to be an anti-climax.
After my 1st coffee break I fall in behind a pair of American twats babbling back and forth 'holy Mary mother of god . . . .' I should have let them go on ahead, but no I very slowly pass them and it takes ages to get away from them. A while later I see Mary (is she mother of god ?), and have a good moan about the twats and she tells me she's into that stuff as she was brought up a catholic, oops !
22km to Santiago and it drags on a bit. At Monte do Gozo whilst having a coffee Mary arrives. I apologise for being offensive earlier, but she's cool about it. We walk into Santiago together and the place she's booked into is full, so I eventually find an old hostal with a double room for€30.
Then it's off to explore and get my pilgrims certificate. Near the cathedral a shout from Paul and Peggy who are so delighted to see me Peggy's in tears. After a beer together and getting my certificate from the pilgrims office, I wait and wander looking for Anne who I said I'd meet at 5pm. I don't see her and wander off and buy some roasted chestnuts and eat them on a bench.
I've seen loads of people I've met on the way today.
I decide to go for a beer and tapas, eventually diving into a likely looking bar, I sit down and just finish my1st tapas and look up, and who's talking to a waiter - Anne. She was sat back to back with me !
After lots of hugs I join her and her friend. She'd waited and wandered around by the cathedral looking for me for over an hour.
Her friend left to find her husband, and we were joined by a French-Canadian couple I knew, then a big Aussie guy and a Japanese woman. It was quite a celebration. Anne was so drunk that me and the Japanese woman had to get her to her hotel and into her room.

Oct. 24th Astrar

Day 71   20 miles   Total 936.7

Another large woman snored all night apart from the few times I woke her. I went downstairs to the kitchen and read for a bit, but movement sensitive lighting made sleep there impossible for me.
Come the morning I was wandering about packing up in a black mood.
It was raining lightly as I set off absolutely shattered in a world of my own. A call from Didi brought me back to the present, I'd walked past him and Fracoise without noticing them.
Talking with them and a stop for coffee brought me to being just tired.
After lunch I'd recovered and passed and was passed by Didi and Francoise a few times. As They were stopping before me, we saying goodbyes when Timo, (Finnish, poker guy),
We walked on together and went to a perfect albergue 700m off the route. We had the place to ourselves. Plenty of space to not be disturbed by snoring, a woodstove and lovely people.
I found a book in English by Eddie Rock - The Camino de Santiago, a sinners guide. What I've read so far makes it the most hilarious book I've read, ever.

Oct 23rd Melide

Day 70    17 miles    Total 916.7

I'm suprised that I don't see more people walking the camino, as this last 100km is said to be busy. I guess it's late in the year.
Lovely walking through countryside dotted with small farms.
There are no shortcuts as in France, the Camino stays on it's original route through Spain.
After passing through the town os Palais do Rei I had lunch in warm sun, then walked the afternoon along leafy paths, seeing only 3 other walkers
On walker, an Aussie, Annie, had Pacerpoles so we walked and talked ultralight backpacking all the way to Melide. She was delighted to meet another gear-geek. I was staying in Melide, she walked on.
Melide is where the Camino Primitivo joins the Camino Francais. It's said to be the lovliest camino as it comes over the mountains from the north coast.

Oct 22nd Ventas de Naron

Day 69    14.6.miles   Total 899.7

As usual I was one of the last to leave the albergue, at 8.40 it was still before sunrise.
The walk was mostly along paths or alongside the road on unpaved tracks. It was high level walking until near Portomarin, where I descended into fog. It is a town that was rebuilt on the hill above when the Rio Miño was dammed.
After crossing the high bridge I met up with a french couple (Didi and Francoise) I've been seeing most days since the ascent in the rain to O Cerbrio.
Didi suffers vertigo badly.and had to get a lift in a car across the bridge !
After an initial steep climb from the river the camino ran parallel to a road, then followed a quiet country road to Ventas de Naron, where I decided to spend the night.
Didi and Francoise appeared at dinner time, and we shared a table. They told me I was their camino angel, as I always appear when they need guidance - I'm not so sure of that, but I've helped them a couple of times.
The night was a disaster, as there were 2 champion snorers near me. The guy next to me was bad, but the other snorer was so deep as to almost be physical, and when I went to shake them it was a woman. There was no where to go as there were movement sensitive lights in the corridor and outside was illuminated by a street light.