Walked: 25.39km (226.28km) | 5h1m (47h35m)
Followed: 0km|48.7km (1h20m)
We made it! 25.39km in 5h1m. There was an element of fear and dread in anticipation of this stage yesterday. It was a long stage and the sun looked like it was going to be full on. We’d also heard about the climbs and the urban nature of a lot of the walk. So we decided to start early and were walking by 7:45. Sunrise was 7:35 but there was no evidence of it. It was cool and cloudy and it stayed like that for the next 3 hours. We didn’t find the climbs hard either. We’d definitely done worse. This is how Strava recorded the elevation.
Just after leaving Padrón we passed another beautifully tended graveyard. The Spanish know how to respect those who are no longer with us.
We also passed several of these pools today. It took us a while to realise what they are! Pilgrim Footbath? Answer at the end.**
We popped into this church and had a nice chat to the volunteer offering stamps for Camino passports. There was a collection box.
Everyone speaks of how busy the Camino is getting – especially in high season – and its enormous impact on the economy. Even with modest accommodation, we guess each overnight must bring in at least €50-75 per pilgrim.
A feature of today was live music. Early on, we found a duo playing Galician bagpipes, but we were pressing forward, so didn’t stop. Then, as we were walking through a wooded area piano music drifted down. Did a pilgrim up ahead have a boombox? It faded, and then up the next incline, we came across the source:
Most of the walk was very pleasant and when we approached towns we went through suburban areas rather than industrial ones.
Generally the trail was very pleasant but some paths were trickier than others.
Jane gave me a black mark a couple of days ago when I got around to telling her to lean forwards when going up hills. “Oh my goodness, why didn’t you tell me that earlier?” Clearly not everyone had George Squires as their PE teacher at school. I could hardly keep up after that; here she is employing this newly acquired skill.
We were so keen on getting the km in today before the sun came out that we barely stopped to eat. We had a coffee and croissant before we started at 7:15 and promised ourselves a ‘second breakfast’ later, but we fell foul of the ‘cerrado los lunes’ (closed Mondays) that we noted last week. When we did find somewhere, the whole world was there, queuing for the loos! So it had to be a quick banana and apple stop, and a lemon ice-cream later on. We were soon approaching the old part of Santiago and caught the first glimpse of one of the cathedral towers through the narrow streets and crowds.
And in no time we were there.
We were fairly early arrivals and yet still the square was filling up, with pilgrims lying down and sitting on the warm paving stones staring up at the amazing building and the blue sky. It was a fantastic atmosphere with lots of people very pleased with themselves and each other, swapping phones with complete strangers to request photos, finding aquaintances from the road, and generally not quite believing they’d made it.
We went off to get our certificates from the pilgrims’ office around the corner – a very slick affair these days, with DIY screen entry for your route and data, and numbered tickets to collect your scroll. By this time we’d realised we hadn’t eaten much and had a couple of tostados and a zero beer while we watched other pilgrims stream in. We saw some we recognised: the wide German lady who had brought her own Sherpa, several groups we’d habitually passed, and in the distance, Lorenzo and Clara. Jane called out but they didn’t hear: it was busy!
We did it and it was easier than we thought! 226km in 12 days.
We went out for tapas this evening and thought we’d just pop up to the cathedral square once more. We caught this street band playing in the cloisters opposite the cathedral. The live music theme was complete.
Here’s a sample of their music.
** Well done if you guessed the use of the little roofed tanks at the wayside: the communal laundry.
