Today dad was not completely healthy. In the morning we had to wait for half an hour because it rained so much. Later it was still a little bit raining. But in the afternoon the weather was better. There were great views, especially from the tops of the hills. We saw the barrier lake of Rio Xallas. We walked about 30km and it was exhausting, so we overslept our alarm clock… But we were in the supermarket for tomorrow shortly before it closed and will eat in the restaurant soon.
Today we started walking with 5 1/2 hours of sleep. Santiago was very beautiful at night and we took pictures in front of the cathedral.
An hour later we saw the cathedral again from a little village. We walked trough eukalyptus forests and saw horses and a donkey.
Then it started to rain. But we had to go up one hill anyway and so it was not cold for us. We crossed a brigde and saw a waterfall.
In the albergue are two nice Austrian and one Irish pilgrims. Now we are dry and eat soon.
Our clock rang at 4:45 in the morning. We saw the stars in the first two hours of walking. It was very beautiful. For example the Orion.
We made our morning break 5 km before the cathedral. We were so excited that dad lost his dental brigde by eating the last nut before Santiago. And then it fell out.
But we went on because we wanted to see the cathedral. And we saw it. This moment was overwhelming and very very gorgeous.
A little bit later we came to the plaza in front of the cathedral. We were near to crying. Then we went to the pilgrims office and got my first and dad’s s third Compostela.
At 12 a.m. we were in a mass in the cathedral. The Botufamero was swinging at the end and this was unbelievable.
Now we are Albergue Seminario Menor which was a monastery some time ago. And dad has fixed his dental problem temporarily by putting it back himself after a call with a german dentist.
Later we will meet the other pilgrims and have party.
Today the scenery was very beuatiful. There were many ups and downs… But luckily our knees did not hurt. There was a thin, little and hungry cat. We gave her a piece of our expensive goat cheese.
We saw many wineyards and churches. In one church there was a big chandelier (Kronleuchter). Johanna thought about her Grandma Karin because Karin likes chandeliers.
And we crossed the 40km, the 30km and the 20km marker to Santiago. So it is possible that we arrive at the cathedral tomorrow.
In the morning we walked over a bridge with lights and then Johanna was following an older pilgrim.
It rained for the first time. But we did not want to put on our rain jackets… So our shirts got a little bit wet… But in the albergue the shirts were already dry again.
We ate blackberries and grapes, which were between the blackberries. We hit the 50km marker to Santiago… So maybe we arrive in Santiago the day after tomorrow.
We left Redondela with many other pilgrims today. We saw a building site for a road. At a little church we got our stamps for the pilgrim pass and met Diana (Romania) and Jimmy(Italy) again and later Nicola(Italy) , who took a different route after Caminha. We want to eat together in the evening.
We saw also a policeman and a policewoman on horses. Today we wnt only about 20km.
Sometimes the normal people on the street or in the shops say ‚Buen Camino!‘ or ask where we come from…. There is a lot of enthusiasm for the Camino in Spain.
Today we walked almost 30 km. We started in the dark and in the forest we lost our way. As we only saw trees with our pocket lamp and no way anymore, we had to go back a little bit. We were a little tired and wanted a motivation. So we decided, the next stop should be the Froiz supermarket to buy a sweet little piece… and the next pause to eat it.
We reached the first less-than 100 km marker.
At Redondela it seemed like we didn’t find an Albergue at first. But after one hour of searching a very nice hospitalera found an Albergue for us. So we have two beds in Redondela now.
This evening we ate very well. Gazpacho, Paella with seafood and a cordonbleu with rice. In a few minutes a chocolate cake will arrive and we will close our day by eating it.
Today we hit the middle of our way to Santiago. We started early and walked one and a half hours without sunlight, because we were still used to the Portuguese timezone that is one hour earlier.
The scenery and the houses in Galicia looked fine, e. g. the house with the shells on the wall and the whale on the beach as well. At the port we saw many fishes and some crabs.
We were excited if we get beds in the albergue because we have no reservation….
Luckily we got our beds… And then the procedure as every day…. Shower, washing… And later eating.
Today we crossed the border river to Spain with a fisher boat in the fog. It was fast and a small adventure – even if the sea was almost flat.
Then we went cross a hill to A Guarda and then we went along the coast to the North. The markers for finding the way are huge in Galicia…
Johanna lighted a candle for the family and the ill people.
In O Porto there is no bed for us in the albergue… But a double room costs only 19 Euro per person compared to 14 in the dormitory… So we have to choose the double room.
Today we ate calamari and pork with French fries and a tarte de Santiago. Our end of the day was the sunset at the beach.
Dad and I started walking around 6 am today. We left the albergue and first we went mostly up hill. Then we were in a beautiful park and our breakfast was bread with peach and shared a dough bag with a sweet orange filling. The next kilometers we walked alone and I found a lemon on the street.
We went through an older quarter with an old roman road. After that we took the way to the sea and saw sunflowers and ate a lot of blackberries from the roadside.
Just before Vila Praia de Âncora the fog covered a lot of our view and it looked a little bit like we were in a different world.
Now in Caminha Dad and I realised that probably today is our last evening in Portugal. That seems a little bit crazy.
