May 23, Camino Day 12: Padron to Santiago de Compostela

May 23, Camino Day 12: Padron to Santiago de Compostela

Day's mileage, maps, etc. per garmin (16 miles) here. And Fitbit information in photo below. Lots of walking around Santiago after we arrived. Also, today had more climbing than other days and we ended with almost 170 "floors," beating our prior day record of 140 last Friday,

Arrival Day. Our thoughtful hostess at the Casa del Antiga in Padron offers us a 7:00 am breakfast hoping, perhaps, that we’ll hoof it on out and won’t hit her up for another rocket ride back to The Camino. Keep thinking that Señora. We breakfast on cake left over from last night’s dessert, peach juice, a banana, and coffee prepared the night before and stored in a thermos (thisclose to being warm), then go back to our room to wait for our ride. The ride seemed necessita because of the number of turns she’d taken to get us to her place; the ride back to the Roman bridge (yeah, people still rely on stuff the Romans built) involved only one slight left and made us feel foolish – as if we’ve never felt that way before. One other note about coffee made the night before and put in a thermos: Our very first night on The Camino Francais last year, our host couldn’t (wouldn’t) get up early to make us breakfast. He did the thermos bit, too, with an even more tepid result. A nice bit of symmetry for our two jaunts.

The day begins cool, but will clear and be a beauty. The track is mostly countryside with the occasional village, though these are usually near busy roads so not as rural as some we’ve ambled through. We see Caminars we’ve seen before and chat with a Spanish guy, who’s on holiday from his job…in Australia. Hey, you Trump lovers who want to keep foreigners out: forget it. Foreigners – including tons of Americans – are on the job everywhere in the world, all the time. We pass our Irish pals Pat and Carol and a pair of Brits we’ve seen at least three times before (we’ll see them again, too), plus young Germans, and Japanese stopping for a smoke break that we sort of recognize. They remember us because we always say "Hey, we’re passing you. Ha ha" when we overtake them. Maybe that’s why they throw lighted cigarettes at us.

As with last year’s trek, the final day is one when it takes longer to finish than the guidebook says, especially when we get a bit lost and decide to head for "cidade centro" on the mistaken idea that the Cathedral of Santiago (which we know to be in "old town") is downtown. This miscalculation is followed by directions from many, many kind Compostelans, all smiling and many not too terribly helpful. At last, sort of sure we’re headed in the right direction, we see the Brits again. They say "Down and to the right" and damned if it doesn’t work! We bumble into Cathedral Square with the big church, still undergoing renovations and still covered in scaffolding and tarps, the same as last year. Our hotel this year, however, is actually on the Square, too, and was, one suspects, where the King hung out when he was in town. (The name "Hostal dos Reis Catolicos" was a hint.)

Having dumped our never-quite-clean belongings in our room, we leg it to the Peregrino Office, where unwashed and foot-weary trekkers can get a swell certificate in Latin attesting to our labors. The proof of this is that we have collected "cellos" or stamped ink impressions on a "Peregrino passport" from at least two places per day where we stopped along the way, usually bars, as befits a spiritual journey. The most demanding part of being certified is waiting for nearly two hours while the line of smelly travelers inches forward. After an 18 mile day, those two hours of standing really made the dogs bark. The saving grace was the Aussies we met in line, who had good spirits and a similarly skewed version of the world. You have to like Aussies. For one thing, they have a light-hearted contempt for their elected leaders: an election six years ago was, we were told by a tour guide at the time, between a "Rang-ger" (short for orangutan, because the lady’s hair was red) and a "budgie smuggler," this applying to a male candidate who’d been photographed in Speedos, a budgie being a very, very small bird. We thought at the time that our guide was just being colorful. Today, however, we were talking politics and asked about the rang-ger. Our new acquaintances knew the term: the woman won the election, but was hobbled by sexism. They also knew the term budgie smuggler: he was put into office next and his own party turned on him. Could America get a rang-ger and a budgie smuggler in a single candidate?

That Aussie tour guide was great! He drove us along switchbacks and entertained us by saying he was going to commit suicide by driving the bus over a cliff. He said, "you'll all be witnesses." That's Aussie humor.

This journey to Santiago is over. No phantom foot pains or toe condoms this year. Dave’s somewhat uncooperative hip seems to like a diet of walking and vino. Scout is, as she was last year, a little sad to have it reach an end. She’s started talking up an Italian walking tour called the "Cinque Terre," which is a five day drunk through a wine growing region. Oh, there’s said to be scenery there, too. Like that matters. (NB: Only one small glass of wine each today. No Corn Nuts and no chocolate. It’s tough going cold turkey.)

Mileage for today: 18. Caminars passed: 36. Equivalent floors climbed: 169, a record for this year.

And, some photos:

A few last pictures of Dave ahead of Scout

Graffiti today

Signs as we got closer to destination: Sadly, the last few markers all had the "distance" pried out/removed. On the Camino Francais, markers were older and had graffiti, but were otherwise intact. I think the distances were carved or etched into the marker rather than a separate piece as in the other two below. You can see where it's been pulled out in the lower left one.

On the right: just 10k left

Last two rest (bar) stops of the trek

Just wanted to post another picture of an Horreo (not the cookie) and a link to what it is. You see these frequently in Galicia. They are granaries. See more info about them here.

And, just for fun, here's a picture from our hotel this morning. The owner's son has won a triathlon. She had this photo in the reception area.

And, a few more sights today

Tile on home

Cool plants growing from roof

Yes, there are warning signs now and then

Waiting with the other Unwashed

Finally:

Life as we know it

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