Spain Day 35

Boimorto to Santiago 42+ km. Our plan for today was to walk around 28 km and stop around Pedrouzo or somewhere near there. That would leave about 20 km for the last day. This changed soon after we left Boimorto because there was an option to stay on the old route or take the alternative route.  According to the guidebook the alternative was a bit shorter and joined the Camino Frances around Rua. So we took the alternative only to find that it did not join the Camino Frances until much later almost at Lavacola. This meant no place to eat for a long time. Since the route was so different, we decided to walk all the way to our hotel in Santiago de Compostela. We sent them a message and changed our booking to 2 days. The new plan called for us to walk further and longer but we can stay in one place for two nights. It's really nice knowing that we don't have to pack up tomorrow morning. All we will do is visit the Compostela office,  buy a few souvenirs, eat and rest.  The weather conditions today really helped us walk this distance. We started in single digit temperatures and were never too warm all day.

Spain Day 34

Miraz to Boimil 36 km+. After having our laundry dry quickly yesterday afternoon, I anticipated warm and dry weather  today.  But after seeing the wet roofs this morning a reevaluation was in order.  We left the albergue with our pack covers on and our umbrellas up as it was sprinkling rain. In fact it sprinkled then quit throughput the day. When we stopped to eat around noon,  we looked over the route and considered walking further. The waitress and another man then told us that we would have to go on to Boimil to find a hotel; this was 11 km further than our original plan. When we arrived in Boimil, we learned that the hotel was closed. Tonight we are in an albergue, which happens to be new and very nice. When we asked about dinner he suggested a cafe-bar about half a km. It was great with the green salad being the best that we have ever had in Spain. In centre were two rounds of hot cheese. Our entrées were presented professionally; my fish was stacked on potatoes under a pile red and green vegetables. When we couldn't understand our choices of dessert our host brought out one with chocolate cake topped with a scoop of orange sherbet with 4 pieces of fruit in the corners. As we left the restaurant we got them to come outside for pictures.
The walk today was through a variety of terrain, which took us up to 700 m. This was above the elevation at which eucalyptus can grow. They can grow at a fantastic rate;we saw growth rings up to 1 inch. I assume that this reflects a long growing season and lots of rain.

Spain Day 33

Vilalba to Miraz 33 km. Today we left our hotel around 7:30 am and walked through typical Galecian countryside for the morning. As usual it was beautiful but not photogenic in that any pictures would look like yesterday's. The farms here are small with only a few cattle or sheep in small pastures. We have seen a number of horses that come to the fence when they see us; I like to pick a handful of grass to feed them.  There were a number of other peregrinos but it was not crowded. We saw only a few peregrinos on the Camino; most often we saw them at refreshment stops.  Interestingly we are known as the Canadian couple because of the flag on my backpack. I'm really happy that I brought the flag because it has been a great icebreaker. When we arrived in Miraz, we went directly to the Albergue O Abrigo and got the only double room in the establishment. It is new and beautiful with granite stairs and everything shiny and clean. We plan to have the peregrino menu tonight.
We have only three more days and then we will be in Santiago de Compostela again. The time seems to be flying by. If we arrive in Santiago de Compostela on Friday, we will travel to Porto on Saturday,  spend Sunday there and fly home on Monday the 22nd.

Spain Day 32

Abadin to Vilalba. Today is a rest day in that we can only walk 20 km and have to stop or go on to 40 km. As a result we ate breakfast late and  didn't hustle for any reason today. The walk was mostly through farmland on dirt paths with just a bit of rolling up and down. As this is Galecia, it is green and lush just like the attached picture shows. Not long after we started walking,  a peregrina noticed my Canadian flag and told me that she was from Montreal. She walked with us for a while until her pulled hamstring forced her to stop at the next bar. We walked until brunch time when we got two large cheese and ham bocadillos. Susie could eat only half of hers. We walked into Vilalba and got a hotel room by 2 pm. As our diets have not been balanced,  we decided to select our food at a supermercado for supper and got salads, meat and bread. We have been short on vegetables. 

Spain Day 31

Villamartin Grande to Abadin. The weather conditions today were perfect for walking, 20C some wind and no rain. We had a Spanish breakfast provided by our pensione and walked easily to Lourenza where we stopped at a bank machine and picked up some Euros. By the time we got to Mondoneda the bars were just starting to open around 11:30 am.  We needed some food with staying power and so we tried a couple of bars that  couldn't make food because the cook was not available and the bread had not been delivered. Finally we found a restaurant and had a large brunch of eggs,  pork cutlet, Russian salad and chips. We needed the calories for the afternoon because we walked about 36 km after missing a turn. The morning's walk through the woodsand farmland was so nice being surrounded by the Galician greenery. Most of the afternoon was spent on roads albeit quiet ones. Tonight we are in a pensione along with other peregrinos from Madrid and the Netherlands. Tomorrow will be a short day of 20 km simply because we don't want to walk 40 km at once.

Spain Day 30

Tapia to Villamartin Grande. When we were leaving our hotel, our host insisted that I have a cup of coffee and he gave us detailed information on the Camino to Ribadeo. Of the various options that he provided we ended up following the Camino signs all the way into Figueras where the variant and the official Camino rejoin. The guidebook had said that the way was poorly marked but we found that it is now well marked. The walk along the coast was everything that we had hoped for with lots of great views. Moreover the total distance was about a km shorter than we anticipated. Asturias is joined to Galecia at Ribadeo by km-long bridge. Today the wind blew from the south so fiercely that we walked like a couple of drunken sailors, probably gusts up to 80 kph. After Ribadeo we had a nice walk into the hills. With all the rain, Galicia is so lush and people have planted so many flowers. By 3 pm we arrived at our destination of Villamartin Grande and arrange to stay at the B&B.  It's really nice with a large bedroom, common bathroom, parlour and kitchen for  €30. We went to the cafe for supper at 7 pm. For the next 3 hours, it rained quite hard. We felt sorry for the 3 peregrinos who still had 2 km to walk to the albergue.

Spain Day 29

Villapedre to Tapia de Casariego.  While the room last night was phenomenal, their breakfast was too late for us so we ate at the cafe, which was open at 6. We started with rain covers on our backpacks and umbrellas in hand because it looked like rain. It didn't disappoint as it spitted for much of the morning. We got to  La Caridad after 11 went to a couple of bars for food.  Unfortunately they were not ready to serve so we went to the grocery store and picked up an empenada and some pastries, which we ate on some public benches. We had views of the Atlantic Ocean but they weren't as good as earlier. In the afternoon we took the alternative route to the beaches shortly after Porcia. That's why we are in Tapia rather than Tol. After getting our hotel we walked down to the beach and put our feet in the Atlantic Ocean. The beaches here are very nice but not warm enough for swimming yet.