Chapter two of the holiday is drawing to a close. Spain and Portugal have been very enjoyable – in fact I’d go so far as to say it’s been my best trip to both countries. Going with someone who not only speaks the language but has lived here really makes a difference. My own familiarity with the culture has improved and I am impressed that I managed to do a grocery shop by myself.
Last night we finished up with Eurovision at 1am and, as always happened before a travel day, I had a terrible sleep. It’s not such a bad thing though as Luke will also be dead tired after his flight from Korea.
We cleaned the apartment then left at midday. In Australia having a check out time after 10am feels like luxury but here it’s quite common. Our flights (Danny, Peter and Ash are flying back via Dublin with a different airline) are only five minutes apart and leave at almost 5pm so we stopped at a sunny cafe for a bit of lunch.
We caught a taxi to the airport and I now know what it’s like to do 80kph over speed bumps. The driver was a nice old guy but his disregard for speed limits and parking guidelines was a quintessentially Spanish experience.
We had a slice of cake in the airport while we waited for the check in counters to open. It’s a local delicacy made with almond flour.
Tarta de SantiagoExpert portioning by Danny.
After checking in separately we headed to the VIP lounge. Danny has membership and we could pay a bit extra to be guests. We made an effort to get our money’s worth and enjoyed the very comfortable lounges.
The focus today has been recovering from last night’s bar and club hopping. It was a good night out but ended up being bigger than I expected.
Drinks in several squares.There was an astonishingly loud funfair happening in a park.
We started off with drinks around town and spent a while at this place where musicians arrived and started jamming at the bar.
We took a wander around the old town and stopped at a few places, eventually getting to Bloom, where a Eurovision party was happening the following night.
Unfortunately, we only got there at 4am and it closed at 4:45. I got outside quicker than Danny, Peter and Ash. I sat for a few minutes and then ended up texting them to say I was heading home. I don’t remember the last time I was out so late and I almost felt like I was going to keel over.
I made it to bed and didn’t hear the others get in a bit later. After sleeping in until 1pm I really had no idea how I’d adjust back to normal waking hours on return to regular holiday hours.
I took a trip back to the mall in the afternoon for food and some new underwear (thrilling stuff) after having a salad in the food court. After such a big night I did wander around in a bit of a daze and I was glad to get back to the apartment and find that we’d be watching Eurovision in the apartment.
I made pizzas, we drank wine, brought blankets to the couch and are now watching the votes come in. Personally I liked the Finnish entry best but it’s not looking good for them.
Tomorrow is the flight home and finally seeing Luke, hooray!
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.
Much better profiteroles than I’ve ever made!
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.
Lots of space on the dance floor.
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.
It’s an anime merchandise store.
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!
It’s not super obvious here, but my tan lines are an epic band of brown between my sock line and the bottom of my leggings and they make me look like I’ve never washed my ankles.
We had lunch at place called ‘Foster’s Hollywood’ and all the food was great.
except the ‘fruit plate’ Ash got for dessert.
Or should I say ‘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!
The bus station in Porto was very well equiped, clean and organised. Public transport really is a dream in Europe compared to Australia.
We bought snacks.
Four kinds in one! I don’t think we have this in Australia, correct me if I’m wrong.
Then got on the almost empty bus (the best kind) and it turned out we had the whole back row.
Time for some crossword puzzles and three hours to enjoy the views of the countryside.
The photos don’t do it justice, the whole way was lovely and green and dotted with little Portuguese villages, rivers and sea views. Here they mostly seem to grow their grape vines on head-height trellises, which seems very sensible.
Eventually we arrived back at the Santiago bus terminal, our third time here! We have now arrived in Santiago by plane, on foot and by bus and left by train so we’re really having a modern pilgrim experience.
The apartment is nice but the security features make me a bit worried about the neighbourhood.
Peter and Ash are arriving this afternoon so we went out to get some supplies. The local bakery was doing something unusual.
Carbon bread!Was actually delicious dipped in olive oil and salt. It did taste like carbon but … in a good way.
I just looked at the door and realised there’s another security feature.
Seems like it should be one or the other.
Looking forward to having other people to listen to Danny’s blister stories ;-).
We left Sigueiro at about 9:30 and had 15km to walk to the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Apart from a few spots of rain the worst of the weather was just a lot of cold wind, which made walking easier.
I kind of expected the path to be quite industrial as it was so close to Santiago but, either by luck or design, it was mostly forest and fields for all but the last few kilometres.
A second later it caught a mouse.
We saw many more pilgrims than previous days but only really talked to one, a lively Italian lady named Leah who told us she had left her husband at home and decided to do the walk by herself at the age of 70. She didn’t have any aches or pains and wished Danny improvement with his feet.
At about 11:30 we stopped off at a food place that was right next to the trail in a forested part.
It was a big open cement area and a huge echoing hall that looked like the world’s saddest wedding venue. It had a tiny bar and food counter set up so we had some coffee and sandwiches.
Such a welcoming atmosphere.
We have been told that the government is using money to promote this route but it would be nice to spend some money on making it safer as often footpath just runs out and trucks almost clip you as you walk.
The amenities and businesses along the trail (or lack thereof) have been a constant source of bemusement. The traffic along this branch of the Camino has been increasing drastically over the last two decades (from under 100 people to over 22,000 last year) but there’s quite long stretches of road with no footpath, no places to get food and not one public toilet to be seen along the whole route, which Danny says is typical of Spain. Anywhere that sells food is expected to let people use their bathroom but quite often there’s nowhere open.
Coming into Santiago from the opposite direction to the most popular trail meant that it was just right into the older part of town.
The industrial estate part of the walk wasn’t pretty but had excellent wide footpaths. The last laundry station!
Our first sight of the cathedral??
No.
How about now?
No.
Then Danny said that we would hear bagpipes when we got close, an instrument that is traditionally Gaelic, so they are played here as well as in Scotland and Ireland. I completely neglected to take a photo of the piper, but eventually we heard them as we continued through the lovely ancient streets.
Crowds of pilgrims in the square.Done!
It was great to finish, and it felt like Danny might not have made another day with his blisters as they were getting worse.
Seeing all the groups of pilgrims getting photos and looking so excited was very nice, I imagine that if you’d come here just for this and if you’d finished one of the longer walks – quite a lot of people walk from France or further – the sensation of relief and achievement would be overwhelming.
All the lines are Camino routes.
Having just spent twice as long walking through much more dramatic countryside in England, this was fun but it didn’t particularly make me want to do other Camino routes. I’m not against the idea either, I just have other places I’d like to walk.
Danny and I did discuss what we’d learned from the experience. I’d totally agree with Deb that four days got me into my stride, so doing a longer trek would definitely be possible and if I’d put more effort into preparing I probably wouldn’t have had such sore feet in the beginning.
I felt a bit hamstrung by not speaking the local language and I think a lot of my enjoyment from travel comes from meeting people so that was a down side. We didn’t really meet many people who spoke English confidently.
I think if I’d done this years ago I would’ve been part of the ‘get up and on the road by dawn’ crowd, but going slower and making decent stops has increased my enjoyment. I don’t think I could ever walk ten hours a day so there’s no need to be up and out so quickly.
The time of year we’d chosen was really good. None of the days were too hot or too cold and we had luckily sat out the rainiest day. The time of year also meant that there were lots of flowers in bloom and the farmers were yet to spread manure on the fields. I always forget how much of country walking is accompanied by the smell of manure but it wasn’t too bad this time.
Despite being surrounded by long green grass most days my hayfever was fine. I really don’t understand why it’s so bad in England and not here where the plants are almost identical.
Collecting the stamps along the way was fun. Who doesn’t like stamps? I think the stamp system would be a great thing to institute on other long walks around the world. It’s an easy and fun reminder of all the places you stop at.
We did 122km or so, 100 is needed for the certificate at the end. We did get the certificates but I think the stamps are actually a better souvenir.
So that was our Camino! Probably the least impressive in terms of length but a very nice walk and Danny and I managed to get along very well, both being very patient when the other needed to go slowly or take a break.
To finish, here’s a series of photos of us in front of highways and derelict petrol stations. It’s not all forests and fields!
Here Comes The Planet 