Friday, September 18th
I just woke from an afternoon nap and took a very hot delicious shower in my lodgings. Today was a short day for us—an eight mile hike in which I often felt I could have kept walking forever. I walked with various members of our group, in deep conversation and in silence; I walked alone. I thoroughly enjoyed every step. We’re all in our groove. Feeling strong and good.
We saw a steady stream of pilgrims today, but no crowds, and often there were just a few of us walking by roadsides, in beautiful woods, and through incredible early morning fog.
Tomorrow we arrive in Santiago de Compostela. We are at kilometer 8, and our excitement is palpable. We didn’t have enough rooms available at our hotel, so four of us are staying at a small alburgue a half hour walk away. We’re eating there tonight, at a very nice restaurant. Half an hour from now, it will be time for me to walk to dinner, so this is going to be mostly an illustrated and captioned view of our wonderful day.
We started out walking through farmland when the morning was still foggy and gorgeous.
Farmers were at work:
And corn was everywhere. It’s been ever present throughout our journey.
The other thing we walk through constantly are chestnuts. But interestingly, as one member of our group commented, there hasn’t been a single things with chestnuts on the menu in any place we’ve eaten. Some types of chestnuts, apparently, are inedible.
This was a whole river of chestnut hulls, a common sight on our journey.
Today we came upon this wall that was half old and half being rebuilt. The new stone is on top; the old stone on the bottom. I so admire the fine craft of laying stone like this. It’s so beautiful.
I was stopped here by the juxtaposition of ancient and modern, something that always makes me wake up and pay attention.
I wondered about this eye and what it meant.
I fell in love with this greenery in all its layers.
And every day, there are always passages like this one.
And roads like this one.
This beautiful old church was across the street from our last group stop today.
After our final stop, I set out with five members of group, our walking pace similar. In our final stretch, we passed some great murals. Check out this video.
Here’s a bit more detail:
A little way along, I came upon this horse. The murals reminded me of all the street art I’d seen in Berlin.
This photo was complete unintentional—I don’t even remember taking it—but I really like how it turned out.
This monument was just crying out to have stones added to it.
This unusual sign caught our attention:
And then there was this disturbing sign which asked pilgrims to speak in opposition to the possibility of encroaching development along the path of the Camino. A huge sign in Spanish, English and German provided a QR code, asked us to access it on our phones and sign, a petition. We did.
Time for me to walk to dinner! I’ll be happy to see my Camino family and break bread together after an afternoon of solitude and rest.
Tomorrow is a big day for us. Leaving the stones we’ve carried for all these miles at Mt. Joy. Then walking into Santiago, where millions have come on pilgrimage over the course of centuries….
P.S. Guess what I saw on the way to dinner? Another mural by Mon Devane in the Las Estrellas del Camino series.
And just before I met the group at the restaurant, I passed through this little pathway. I loved the Camino arrow and the old woman I met there.
