Today we left at 6:00am but lost about 20 minutes after taking a wrong turn and heading in the wrong direction in the dark! The rest of the day though was great. We were able to sleep well last night and we were feeling good today. As it turned out we did our fastest walk today. 26kms in 6 hours. Not bad at all for two old crinklies (well one and a half!).
Apart from the first few kilometres along roads, the rest of the way was through beautiful shaded forests and mountain paths. The downside (there is always a downside!) was that there were a number of very steep ups and downs which tend to wreak havoc with the knees. On one particularly steep descent we saw a long train bridge which straddles the valley. This was under construction five years ago when we did our walk from Gibraltar. It was good to see it finished. We understand the high speed AVE trains will use this bridge on their approach to Santiago de Compostela.
We arrived at the Albergue in Outeiro too early and had to wait for it to open at 1:00pm. It has been improved since last time by the addition of a restaurant service, whereas before there was absolutely nothing to eat anywhere near the place!
Our German friends did not arrive until much later. They had decided to send their very heavy rucksacks ahead by taxi and the Hospitalera in charge of the Albergue would not let them in! They have a very strict code on only allowing bone fide pilgrims in the Albergue. If you don't have a rucksack, then you are obviously not one! Eventually their packs arrived and they were able to join us. As this is the last Albergue before Santiago it was virtually full with around 30 people.
TODAY SATURDAY WE REACHED SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA!
This is our third Camino but it is always a thrill when you walk up to the Cathedral, particularly after a long and very often painful journey. We decided to leave early this morning and at 05:20am we were on our way, totally in the dark, with a full moon shining down on us and our headlamps on. We wend our way through a long straight path through forests until first light. The path then continued through beautiful rolling hills an unending up and down motion which was exhausting! But we were spurred on by the fact that soon we would reach Santiago. No matter how many times you walk up to it, it is always something special. We saw very few pilgrims on the way, perhaps because it was so early but as soon as we spied the twin towers of the Cathedral, we also started seeing other walkers coming from the various Caminos that converge on Obradoiro square in Santiago. It was with a huge sense of achievement that we took the last few steps to the Cathedral!
After that we went to our hotel to freshen up and then headed for the pilgrim office to obtain our Compostela, the certificate that confirms we have done one of the Caminos de Santiago. At lunchtime we went to Casa Felisa where last time we were with our friends and fellow walkers, Phil and Miriam Watson and Bart and Linda Saudemont. We raised a glass to them, hoping that our paths will cross again in the not too- distant future!
Tomorrow we continue to Cape Finisterre, the fabled End of the World, where we will end our epic journey. We hope you will continue to join us on our journey.
On a final note we would like to send our congratulations and best wishes to Lt. Col. (Read) Mark Randall, former Commanding Officer, Royal Gibraltar Regiment, who tomorrow Saturday will be entering Gibraltar after a mammoth walk of over 2100 Kms from Cardiff Castle, in record time. Well done Mark! Fantastic achievement.
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