Thursday, September 17th
Today we left a relaxing two-night stop in Ribadiso, where we took advantage of laundry facilities and a luscious swimming pool.
Today we were back at it—about to walk our longest day on the Camino—about 15 miles.
Before we hike each morning, we limber up and stretch for the day’s walking.
People choose the poses that work best for them:
And if someone is feeling a little tight, a friend is usually right there to lend a hand.
There were a LOT of people on the Camino today. As we get closer to Santiago de Compostela, the number of pilgrims is increasing dramatically. It’s exciting—so many of us all heading to one destination. We were in a river of walkers much of the day, faster people coming up and passing on our left.
There were still many peaceful moments—times walking alone or with just one another person or in a small pod from our group, but overall, there are a lot more of us following those yellow arrows counting down toward zero, voices rising and falling in multiple languages.
We’re only 24 kilometers from Santiago.
I had fun making this video at our lunch stop today.
Here are some of the other things I noticed on our very long walk from Ribadiso to O Pino today.
In the morning, I was delighted to spot another Las Estrellas del Camino mural.
Then there were the Guardia Civil officers. Here’s one of the horseback guards stamping people’s pilgrim passports with their insignia.
The Guardia Civil provides the core public safety and security network on the 4,000 kilometers of the Camino de Santiago routes in Spain. Officers monitor the routes on foot and on horseback. Their role is to provide mobile assistance, emergency response, and to prevent crime and assist vulnerable travelers. They also monitor for environmental hazards and forest fires. But mostly we’ve seen them smiling and chatting with the folks on the trail.
We’ve seen this particular three-person horseback team numerous times this past week. And they seem to pick particular good-looking, personable officers for this public-facing assignment.
Guardia officers weren’t the only people we saw more than once. When you walk the Camino, you often run into fellow pilgrims repeatedly. We loved these bicyclists we dubbed “the tiger men.”
And they’re off:
Yesterday, during happy hour, Brenda handed us each three ribbons. She told us that we’d be coming to a special bridge after “second breakfast” where people tie memorial ribbons and wishes for healing and prayers. This was something new to me—I didn’t remember it from the last time I walked the Camino two years ago.
As we got close to the bridge, I spotted this sign of what was to come.
Here are the ribbons on the bridge:
Here are the ribbons on the bridge:
Then we walked over the bridge.
Afterwards, I walked with Andre for a long stretch. She spotted this garage full of potatoes.
As always, there were lots of animals on our route. This sweet dog reminded me of our yellow lab Luna at home. I miss her so much!
On our last stretch in our 15 mile day, we passed this restaurant which makes great use of used bottles for this display.
On our last stretch in our 15 mile day, we passed this restaurant which makes great use of used bottles for this display.
When we got “home” to Ola Camp Camino, back in the place we’d met for our opening retreat, (we’re just here for one night this time), I checked to see how far I’d walked.
And in an hour, we’re walking 20 more minutes to get to our dinner restaurant! And then back again. My final total for the day as I finish this post was 35,072 steps.
Everyone was feeling it, so in the rest time between arriving at our hotel and going to dinner, I pulled out the special gift I’d brought for everyone and stashed in my luggage until now. Our longest day seemed like the right time to pull it out: a portable spa treatment for our feet!
Ahh! They were luscious. I got lot of thank you texts from tired walkers with their feet up. And I was so proud of all the steps I took today. That we all took today.
In two more days, we arrive in Santiago.
