Santiago de "Campus Stellae"

Today was full of graffiti, from just random things people wrote to show they were there, to messages to specific people, to deeper messages or meanings. I liked this one, apparently by someone from Hawai'i.

The beginning of the 20km walk was nice, through eucalyptus forest. There were a lot of other people, so I kept my earbuds in and listened to music so the chatter wouldn't disturb me.

And after Kathy (from Australia) pointed it out, I have noticed several men in pink shirts. But this guy is definitely comfortable with himself for being able to wear bright pink crocs for walking.

Finally! The first signs of Santiago! This has to be the most beautiful waymarker along the whole route. I don't even mind the graffiti yellow arrow on it.

There was one overpass the camino went under that had lots of graffiti. There were a few things that really caught my eye, including this poem by a fellow pilgrim from who knows when. And the one after is particularly true for me as I'm sure it is also for other people. There are lots of life lessons you can learn along The Way, though they're not always obvious until someone else points them out.

It wasn't all roses and daisies today. I heard a lot about the pilgrim statues pointing to the cathedral in Santiago from the top of the last hill, so I expected to see them. There's also supposed to be a view of the cathedral's spires from that same hill that I was looking forward to. I did look for them, but couldn't see them. I don't know if I wasn't looking in the right direction or if trees were blocking the view. In any case, it was a bit disappointing. All I saw at the top of that hill was this modern sculpture. It's not the most inspiring thing in the world.

I did appreciate this sign as I entered the city even if it's not particularly beautiful. The monument in the background has plaques of famous pilgrims, such as Pope Jean-Paul II (no, I don't know if he did the camino while he was pope or if it was long before that, but he apparently completed it at some point). Saint Francis of Assisi is also on there, which is particularly important because this year is the 800th anniversary of when he did the camino.

Another brighter point was seeing the tarta de Santiago in whole, rather than just as slices. It's pretty, isn't it?

And finally, the cathedral. At this point I was tired and sore, especially my feet. It was a bit underwhelming. What's more, they started closing the doors as I approached this side entrance because there was something going on inside. Eucharist, I think. So I went around to the front, where I told Mom to meet me in the square. I understand they have to do renovations but the scaffolding was another disappointment. I so wanted a beautiful picture of the cathedral and didn't get it.

After about thirty minutes of waiting and not seeing Mom anywhere, I decided to get up off the ground where I had propped myself against a metal box in the middle of the square, put my boots back on, and walk around the cathedral. I found her at the other side entrance. After we greeted each other, we walked back to the main entrance. I wanted to go in that way because I wanted to see the Tree of Jesse, which you might recognize from the film The Way as it's where they all put their hand when they arrive at the cathedral. Only problem is, it's blocked off now from the public, and you can't even see it because they won't let you in to the area of the Portico of Glory (main entrance) because of the renovations.

Anyway, I asked the lady at the door (in Spanish) when the cathedral would be open again to visit and she said it would be another hour, even though it was past the time when the man at the side entrance had said it would be open again. She wasn't pleasant, and insisted we wouldn't be able to take our purses inside and wouldn't even tell me where we could leave them. So instead of visiting the cathedral, we headed to the pilgrims' office to get the compostela. Mom had to run back to the hotel to get my two earlier credentials since I'd forgotten about needing them and had left them in my pack. I had a Coke in a café while I waited for her, which she said would be about 15 minutes because the hotel was very close. More than half an hour later, she returned. She'd gotten lost and went in a completely wrong direction even though we were just down the street from the hotel.

It did give me a chance to relax and rest my feet, however. Then we went back to the pilgrims' office across the street and waited in line for an hour or so and finally it was our turn! We went in and I presented my three pilgrim passports to the lady at the desk. She wrote up the compostela and asked if I wanted to purchase a distance certificate. I said yes, of course, and after calculating how far I actually walked, I had my two certificates! Mom and I went together and she got her own certificate, though it wasn't the compostela (which is issued when you do the camino for spiritual or religious reasons). Instead hers is just a document that welcomes her after walking The Way of Saint James.

Here's what they look like closer up. The first one is Mom's. The lady translated her name to Latin. Apparently there's no translation for my name, but that's okay. Both documents are completely in Latin, as the compostela would have been in the Middle Ages. For a translation of the compostela in English, look here: http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/index.php?threads/Compostela-translation%3F.7188/

After that we decided to go for dinner and the most appealing choice was paella. Mom didn't want any with shrimp after having watched me pick out heads, legs, antennae and eyeballs from the paella I'd gotten in Palas de Rei. I went for the black paella. Why is it black? It's cooked with squid ink! It's pretty good, too.

Finally, on the way back to the hotel we passed a very intriguing shop where we purchased this box:

It's not what it seems. The store was called the Chocolat Factory. We got 250 grams of chocolates, not... well, anything else that the description on the box might imply. Here they are:

Not hungry enough yet for chocolate? Try close-ups.

That last was SCRUMPTIOUS! Smooth chocolate ganache inside... YUMMY!

We just relaxed at the hotel for the evening, resting our feet. (Mom's were tired and sore from standing at the cathedral, waiting for me for an hour.) Mom had to turn on the TV, of course, because whenever one's around she has to watch it. She flipped through channels before she found something to watch. What did she settle on? Property Brothers, dubbed into Spanish! HGTV all the way over here in Spain!

Gotta live up the guilty pleasures, I suppose, because tomorrow's the End of the World.

One...

Only one more day to go on the Camino! It hardly seems real and I don't really want it to end. I don't want to have to return to reality. Oh, well... Until I win one of those $500+ million jackpots I'm stuck actually working for a living, instead of traveling and learning and making crafts and getting new hobbies.

The first thing I did was pass through this little down (Ribadiso or Rivadiso, depending on which language you're using, so named for the rio Iso that the bridge passes over) and stop before the next, bigger, town for breakfast. And guess what! I saw Leah there. You remember Leah, right? Young Australian I met in Arre, just before Pamplona, and walked with for a day. Turns out she walked several 30-40km days to get across the Meseta and make up some time. That's the part between Burgos and León that I skipped because it's dry and flat and hot and there's no shade. Just like Kansas.

Upon leaving town, I saw another decorated corn crib. It reminds me of a face.

And in one small town I got a stamp from these fine ladies. The nuns were so sweet! I just had to get a picture. You don't see them often even here in Europe, and almost never in the States.

Remember Kathy, the Aussie lady I walked with earlier in Spain before she skipped ahead so she could finish on time? She'd told me all the thorny viney things that had pestered me were wild blackberries. Here are some (still not ripe) to prove her right.

I also saw this guy. There were others wearing the same hats so I'm sure it's some kind of group or association. It was cool until I unwittingly stepped partially in some of the fresh poo along the way. I wasn't so happy with him then.

But I also walked through the forest today. It was a pretty forest, full of tall, straight eucalyptus trees. Yes, I said eucalyptus. In Spain. No, there are no koalas. The cuddly bear things stayed in Australia. The trees here are just for making paper because they grow rather quickly so the plantation owners can make a quicker profit than with hardwoods like oak, which take 75 years or more to mature enough to be useful.

I finally met Mom again in O Pedrouzo, our last stop before Santiago. It was another long day and I was tired. I limped into town on my sore feet after yet another day of about 24km. I did still insist on going to dinner, though. I did not feel like ordering pizza. And good thing, too, because otherwise we wouldn't have seen this guy.

Can't tell what I'm taking a picture of? It's this guy! Look at the above picture again and you'll see that almost the entire rear end of the cute donkey is covered in the biker dude's stuff.

Cute, isn't he? Sure would be a lighter load for me to walk but I don't think I'd want to have to feed a companion and listen to him braying at night.

And there's only one day left!

Two...

I took a rest day in Palas de Rei because I was so tired, most likely due to the Benadryl I took the night before, and the fact that the young Spaniards in the dining area just off our room were loud and didn't shut up until 11:00 at night.

But today I made it to A Portela. It's a small "town" near the normal stopping point and doesn't have an albergue, just a couple of small hotels. We stayed in one of them, which took up one of the three buildings in town. The other two appeared abandoned and the small hotel also hosted an unfrequented café and a sort of corner grocery store. It was nice and peaceful, though.

The walk was very enjoyable. I passed through several small towns peacefully. Unfortunately that was only because I had my earbuds in, listening to my phone. Otherwise other people's chatter would have annoyed me. The attitudes of "pilgrims" who started in Sarria or later seems less Camino-esque. They tend to be louder and more boisterous, traveling in small groups, instead of quiet, peaceful, friendly and contemplative. You don't always get a "buen camino" from them either, even if you're the one to say it first. I understand why so many on the forums are annoyed by these pilgrim tourists spoiling the end of the camino experience.

On a lighter note, this little church was beautiful, decorated with motifs. And the corn bin below was also nicely painted.

In one little town there was this neat statue of "dancing" pilgrims. I don't know if they're actually dancing, but I like to imagine they are.

Just one example of a group of new "pilgrims" on the Camino.

This tiny hut on a stand was right outside the church above. I have no idea what it's for, if it's a model or a small chicken coopy, but it was interesting.

I also enjoyed seeing the old well, whether it's for wishing or not, and crossing the stepping stone bridge.

I met a Brit. A lady four years older than me who had gifted herself with ten days on the Camino de Santiago for her birthday. And she was gifted back with many blisters. Sarah has been a police officer for ten years near London. Apparently they have little violent crime and most officers don't even carry guns, just night sticks and mace. Anyway, I met Sarah at the 50km mark and she's the one who took my picture. Like the 100km marker it was covered in graffiti, though I didn't bother to read any of it. We talked for a few minutes before I went into this church and she continued on her way. I did, however, catch up to her again before I reached Portela and we talked some more. One of the best things about this journey is meeting so many people even if I don't exchange contact info with them and never see them again.

And here is the cross of St. James. I'm thinking about adding it and a quote to my tattoo.

Three...

Mom made it to the next stop okay by taxi. She glared at me when I arrived four hours after heading out, having walked 16.5 km, something that would have taken her two days to do. We stayed at a very small albergue run by Agape, a Christian organization. All the hospitaleros are volunteers, mostly American but there was one Spanish girl and a guy from Nigeria.

It was nice, very communal. We had a sharing time, when we each read a note that a previous pilgrim had left, then had the opportunity to leave our own. Afterwards we watched the Jesus movie. It's a film that missionaries apparently use to show the life of Jesus. And then came dinner, where we all sat down together and chatted during the meal, then introduced ourselves and shared whatever experiences we wanted at the end. It was a very welcoming atmosphere and it was a good stay.

Mom decided to walk again the next day, but we sent our packs ahead so we wouldn't have to carry the weight. It was much easier on her but at the end of the 8+ km she was still tired and stiff and sore. So she won't be walking with me the rest of the time.

So now I'm three days out from Santiago de Compostela. And I'm glad and not glad at the same time. Not glad, because I don't want to have to go home and go back to work. I just want to keep traveling. And I'm glad because hopefully these will go away:

Yes, you can see my lovely tan line on my oh-so-beautiful legs. But that's not the point. About a week ago, I started getting bug bites. And I've just gotten more. And more.

For two months I didn't have a problem, but now at the end I suddenly have at least twenty of them. Mom thinks some kind of flea or something got into my socks, since most of the bites are on my feet, especially the right foot. I'm not convinced. I'm pretty sure I don't have fleas. But something sure likes me. The pictures don't even do it justice. Though they do look pretty bad. I'm just miserable, itchy all over. And now I've given myself another sore from rubbing the itchy bit on my toe.

Anyway, that's about all I have to report for now. Nothing happened today because I took a rest day. I think I ended up so tired because of the Benadryl I've been taking before bed. But the results are the same: I slept half the day today after having taken a long nap yesterday and sleeping all night.

I will be back to soldiering on tomorrow, and I suppose that's enough for now.