Peter and Ash arrived to much excitement on our behalf and in a holiday mood after a number of drinks on the journey. Obviously this is something I personally do not condone and certainly not something Danny and I did to excess on the way over.

The apartment only has one bathroom so everyone had showers and drinks (not at the same time) before going out for the evening.

We didn’t walk far before finding a nice restaurant. We ordered the set menu, which was platters for two with a mix of meats and sides.

When they arrived the servings looked huge but we managed to get through them. Peter and I shelled all the prawns and, like the heroes of ancient mythology, we completed the Herculean task set before us.

When the desserts and digestif arrived I began to doubt my staying power, but made it through.

At 11pm we found the local bar and were the only patrons until people started to arrive at 1am. ONE AM. On a Wednesday night (Thursday morning, really). It’s really no surprise the streets of Spain are deserted until mid morning.

After hearing ‘we’ll go after one more drink’ a few times I snuck out and took myself home, thankful I had a set of keys. Then I texted the others when I was down the street to let them know I’d gone.

It was quite a surprise, after so many drinks, that I could operate the various locks but I got in, drank a large glass of water, had some ibuprofen and woke up feeling fine. A Santiago miracle!

The apartment is quite small so when I woke up the next morning I stayed in my room, listened to podcasts and did some stretches. I was so diligent with stretching on the Camino but we are walking almost as far most days now but I’ve stopped looking after myself properly. I wake up feeling quite stiff so it’s good to have time to do it thoroughly.

Today’s main mission was to go shopping. It’s fun (and slightly disconcerting) to go to a shopping mall that is barely indistinguishable from my usual one back home yet has entirely different shops. I think the only one I saw that I recognised was IKEA, but that was a tiny shopfront rather than the mega stores we have.

I was very keen to get a few new things to wear and to replace my leggings, which are developing alarming stretches of holes along the inner seam. Clothes wear out surprisingly quickly when you wear them every second day.

Having bought a nice dress in Porto, I needed nice shoes and ended up buying a whole new outfit. Woo!

We had lunch at place called ‘Foster’s Hollywood’ and all the food was great.

except the ‘fruit plate’ Ash got for dessert.

In the shopping centre Ash and I saw a woman knock over her entire cup of coffee while putting on her coat, I got to watch a golden retriever play with a soft toy and on the way home we all saw a guy fall off his bike. So it really was an action-packed day.

When we got back to the apartment I washed my hair and everyone else went out for a drink. I’m happy to have a bit of quiet time and fill in this entry… and maybe have a nap!