The bunks beds were lovely and clean and for the first time I felt happy to sleep under the sheets provided. Needless to say it was a wonderful sleep. I woke as Christine packed at 6:00am and passed her my torch. It seemed there were a number of people rising early and setting off before breakfast. I tried not to make too much noise and decided to have a shower before breakfast and setting off. Not long after getting out of the shower Christine arrived back and said she'd not been able to locate the path and could I set off with her asap. I quickly grabbed my things together, packed, grabbed a quick breakfast and coffee shared with Christine said our goodbyes and set off still in the dark at about 7:05. I noticed the air was cool and damp as we left. We crossed the road and passed the Scouts tent that had been cannily set up in the bus shelter, outside the Municiple Albergue. We made our way into the edge of the woods but it was quite difficult to see the path ahead in such light. There were pilgrims ahead that were occasionally illuminated by the odd car headlights that passed at that time in the morning and that made finding the path easier. I also have very good sense of direction so can generally feel when I'm going in the right direction so we managed follow the right path. We were making good time and within 20 minutes passed through the town of Arca O Pino. It was still dark but sky was beginning to lighten up. The path took us completely around the sports centre and into the forest again. Christine was making excellent time and walking at a very good pace through the woodland footpath that at times was carpeted with soft pine needles - we were even passing other fast walking pilgrims too. We continued on to Amenal Tunel where we stopped (just after 8:00am) for a comfort break. The clouds were low and the mist was just above the trees. It was here that I got to hold one of the Spanish pilgrim's staff adorned with the flag of Spain, and a teddy bear with a teddy bear pilgrim's passport around it's neck - see photograph taken by the owner of such staff.
Time was of the essence to Christine so we pressed on; the others were about 4Km beyond us, but we were catching them up. As the path rose towards the airport we entered the mist. Christine and I walked together for another 2km and then she asked me to press ahead to the airport and order breakfast rolls and coffee. I duly rushed ahead, passed the airport and heard planes in the air but absolutely no visibility beyond about 50 meters. On reaching the the airport perimeter fence I passed Tony and Ilsa - the couple from Denmark who we'd met at St Irene. They were making good progress too for 75 & 81 year olds. Soon after that I happened to notice that the pilgrims had created a shrine of crosses on the Airport fence, made by twigs. It looked wonderfully mystical against the background of mist/fog - see the photos. It wasn't to much further to the cafe at San Payo just beyond the Airport where I stopped to order breakfast. The place was crowded and it took a long time to get served. And as the coffee and pastries arrived so did Christine at 9:10am - excellent timing, I thought. We sat at a table with a young couple who had walked all the way from Denmark and who looked extremely fit. We had our Coffee and it was on the road again Christine had a message from Nick saying they were ahead at Vilamaior (only 3.5km ahead and suggested that I push ahead and let the know she was not far behind. The path was quite boring as the mist was settled in for the day, visibility was low and the path was on a quiet tarmac road surface, but the temperature fine for walking and the general level was falling towards the Rio Labacolla so my pace was very good. I recall rising and passing a very smelly milk farm (which quickened my pace further) and before I knew it I was at Vilamaior with the full group waiting... We all waited for Christine to catch up as the intention was to walk into Santiago together. It took a little while for Christine to catch up, so I wnt back and joined her by the smelly milk farm. She seemed a little tired, but chatting away with Tony and Isla.
After tea and a beer we pressed on. I decided to push ahead as the atmosphere took a turn for the worse. I met up with Isabella and Maria at Monte del Gozo, Mout of Joy, where I took the final photograph of the walk which should have been a view of the Cathedral, but the atmospheric conditions obscured those views. I arrived in Santiago at 1:00pm and chose to use the Final Pilgrim's Refugio in Santiago - a really nice hostel with excellent facilities - perhaps a tad to far from the city's centre. I had a shower then walked into the the centre to get the official certificate. I caught up with Shirley on the way - the GP from Melbourne, Australia - I had met on the fist walking day (day 2). Shirley told me that Joan had fallen sick on the last leg so had returned to her hotel and may not complete the pilgrimage? That was another sad moment for me, I had so hoped Joan would have made it with her multitude of pilgrim passports and her cheery disposition... When I got to the city centre I went straight to the Post Office to check if the Parcel I sent from France had arrived - no luck, they needed the tracking number. I got the tracking number text to me from Ross, but there was no such record on the Spanish parcel system :-( I'd tray again tomorrow. I went on to the cathedral and thence to the Pilgrim office to pick up my certificate see below.
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| From Camino day8 |
I then took a mini tour around some of the more interesting places and relaxed contemplating the GAFOD questions for the day. I then made my way to the evening mass where I saw for the first time the Botafumerio swung by about ten men attendants. This was originally used to fumigate the smelly and disease-ridden pilgrims, but nowadays its just a bit of a "show glitzy" item that I'm sure if Cannon Michael G saw it he would want one for his church in Corby :-). That said it is a splendid sight and sends a shiver down one's spine thinking of the potential devastation should the casket come off mid flight. The swinging apparently caused some spiritually significant experiences a few pilgrims I met who wanted to renew their faith after seeing this - so perhaps I shouldn't be so disrespectful ...
I met up with the team after mass and shared a wonderful shellfish meal with Nick before dashing back to my Refugio. I slept extremely really well that night.
Pictures of the day follow:
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