We walked through beautiful countryside yesterday, made up of small working farms with cattle, sheep, and chickens mixed with forested areas with little streams winding through. There was a break in the weather, until mid-afternoon, when it began to drizzle.
At lunch we ate octopus, called pulpo, a specialty of this part of Galicia. It was so good, we ordered a second plate, much to the delight of our cook.
We had been intending to decrease our mileage with our approach to Santiago, but instead we have been walking longer miles, and today was no exception, eventually walking 18.4 miles.
Today started in wind and rain and continued that way throughout the day. We trudged on and on, up and down hills, most of this on paths through the woods, but also winding through little farming villages. With the rain we took few breaks and kept plodding along. We had a casa rural in mind that had been recommended to us, but when we got there at mid-afternoon and with sore feet, we found out it had been closed for the season. We headed on, but missed the accommodations in the next two villages. We ended up in a rather expensive hotel 15 kilometers from Santiago, finishing the day in the rain, just as we had started. We are getting more adept at drying ourselves off after a wet hike.
mist and rain
getting close to Santiago
pooling water
We are all looking forward to reaching Santiago and the end of our walk. Karen and I will have been on the Camino for 43 days, Ted for 41. We’ve spent parts of the last two days considering what we enjoyed about hiking the Camino and what we’ve learned. One thing I learned was that if you are sitting on a toilet in Spain, it’s a good idea to wave your hands over your head periodically. If you don’t do that, the lights, which are motion sensitive, will turn off, leaving you on the toilet in the dark. Some toilets are even more devious. The light is on a short timer, and when the lights go off, no amount of hand waving will turn them back on. It’s necessary to push the light button again, and it is invariably out of reach from the toilet. It’s a good reason to bring hiking poles into the toilet!
Walking El Camino de Santiago 