I arrived in Santiago de Compostela early this afternoon, five weeks after leaving Bayonne.. Flooded pathways, covered with mud, blustery wind, and constant rain made this final stage a fitting conclusion to my Camino del Norte. It’s been tough at times- and today was certainly top three. Santiago seemed a long way away this morning. While it wasn’t a long stage, it was cold dark and wet, very wet. Head light on again! To complicate things, I had rough night with a tummy bug that’s been doing the rounds - plus last night’s ‘Ubereats delivery’ from a nearby bar was horrible- what I did manage to eat, came back in the early hours- which was a relief. Anyway I felt a little tired and weak when I shuffled off into the gloom around 7.30am. At the breakfast stop at O’ Pedrouzo, I had orange juice, camomile tea and a nurofen - what a combination - anyway it worked and my pace and energy began to come back. Eric had a similar night (and breakfast) and we.walked the rest of the Way together.
I wasn’t all that keen to step out this morning- the ocean looked angry and squalling showers were blowing through. But I went anyway and got washed by the rain - and eventually found a dry place to stay. I almost turned around after the first few minutes- it was cold, wet and windy and my phone was dripping and hard to use. I had to rely on yellow arrows (old school) to get out of town. Up and into the forest rain, And evidence of a stormy night - eucalyptus remnants everywhere (could be Australia) Hello I’m Mr Ed! - it was the only conversation I had all morning. I thought the weather was clearing - but no . . . I needed to find shelter- marginal at best. After four hours or so, I found an open bar and had some lunch. As I was getting settled and squeezing out wet socks, I heard a voice behind me ‘Mike?’. It was Roger from Switzerland- last seen in Bilbao weeks ago. We booked and walked together in the sunshine (surprise!) to the Buen Camino Albergue in San Esteban. Not as lo
I hope it’s been a restorative day, Mike.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I really think it was worth it
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