Santiago de Compostela, Spain

 I’m tired and sore and I just want to go home!

My sleep was okay but it was very difficult and painful to walk to the bathroom in the night.  

My physio appointment was at 9:30, not that far away but I could not walk so at 5 to 9 we called a cab.  We waited and waited and finally Mirjanne started flagging down cars asking them if they would take us.  One man who was parked along the road agreed and I ended up being only 15 minutes late.  The physio seemed surprised that my knee hurt so much so today she ultrasounded again, then put on an electric shock machine, massaged it and then taped it, differently than yesterday.  After, we walked pretty much across the street to the hospital.  My insurance quickly confirmed they would pay so after waiting an hour or so I saw a Doctor.  She thinks I have tendinitis and prescribed an anti inflammatory and a pain med.  It was very easy to fill the prescription- there are pharmacies everywhere and soon we were sitting at a bar eating tapas-

I had a crab mixture, cheese covered in crispy things, chorizo and a croquette.  They were all really good-

“Cow” on the menu-

Wine-

I trudged home and lay down.  I’m feeling very depressed - waiting on insurance, possibly missing out on flights and buses but I have decided I am coming home.  This injury may take weeks to heal and I can’t sit around in a hostel doing nothing and not really being able to even walk for groceries or to visit a restaurant.

Tomorrow late morning Mirjanne will take a 20 hour bus to Paris.  I am really going to miss her - we have gotten along really well, had some wonderful talks and a lot of fun.  I am sad that our trip together is ending.  

So overall it’s been a hard and sad day.  

O Faramello to Santiago de Compostella

Day 5 not walking!

I had a great sleep but was up too early due to movement in the room. One couple left about 4:30!!  Might have had a flight to catch, not sure why else one would leave so early for about 4-5 hours walk. 

I walked?? trudged, shuffled, limped to the bus stop with plenty of time to spare. It was about 850 meters away from the albergue. According to the schedule I had the bus should have arrived at 9:15. At 9:30 I stuck out my thumb but no one stopped. Then miraculously at 9:37 a bus arrived. It was practically full, mainly with locals. 

I got out about 650 meters from the physiotherapist and stopped at a cafeteria for breakfast. I had a ham, cheese and egg boccadillo (sandwich) , coffee and a churo. It was all very good-

I got to my appointment early and she worked on my inner thigh for half an hour, then did ultrasound and taped it. She was horrified when I said I was worried I would have to go home. Definitely not she said. You will be better. Well leaving her office it was a bit better but it didn’t take long that it hurt as much as ever. I go back tomorrow at 9:30. I will suggest I see her Thursday and Friday and if it is not better by then I will have to go home. 

After, I met Mirjanne at a café in the pouring rain. They don’t care if you order or not and only bring menus if you ask.  Once the rain stopped we wandered down a pedestrian street-

looking for tapas-

I had chorizo with a pepper on top, red pepper jam with goat cheese and salmon-

We then headed to the Cathedral which is the culmination of the walk-

There were a lot of people there because all caminos end here-

There were also tents set up with the Palestinian flag. Everyone ignored them-

Arriving here was very anti climactic. It is my third time but this time I only walked 185 km of the 285. Also I am in a lot of pain so nothing is much fun-

We went into the Cathedral-

The pipe organ-

I lit another candle-

Then we went back to the tapas street for supper. There are only 3 tapas restaurants there and one was closed. We went back to the same place and I had roasted peppers and Mirjanne had garlic potatoes-

I also had a thick chunk of cod which was very good. 

There’s a nice park along the way-

and a weird doll shop-

We bought a bottle of wine and walked to the Albergue Seminario Menor which is a former monastery and has 300+ beds-

Luckily our room is quite small-

Tomorrow I have another appointment at 9:30, then will see what the day holds. 

O Pino to O Faramello, Spain

 Day 13.  O Pino to O Faramello, Spain

Day 4 not walking!  Getting up in the night however was not as difficult as it has been so maybe that’s a good sign. 

We had to be out of the albergue by 8 but I made arrangements to stay until my 10 a.m. bus. There are a  pair of volunteers at the albergue - I’m  not sure what they do and neither are they!  It’s a Mom and daughter team from Seattle. They aren’t allowed to clean because it’s a government run albergue, they’re just supposed to greet the pilgrims and make their lives easier. Well last night there were only 11 of us there so… The Mom told me they are very bored. They were advised to get a car so they could go places when not “working” so she volunteered to drive me to the O Faramello Albergue-

which made life a whole lot easier for me!

Of course it didn’t open until 1 so I had hours to kill. I shuffled down the street to a nearby café but he only made instant coffee so I passed and instead had chips and a beer-

It is unbelievable how many pilgrims are walking through -

Hundreds and hundreds!  There are lots of bikers too and lots of noise. 

Once checked in-

I had a salad-

and waited for Mirjanne to arrive. We sat outside and visited with other pilgrims and watched many walk by.

Supper was very tender chicken sliced so thin it only had one side, fries and oh ya, wine-

Tomorrow I will take the bus at 10 to Santiago and then I have a physio appointment at 11. I feel very sad because I don’t like quitting anything but I’ve been forced to. Also if the physio can’t fix this tomorrow I may as well come home because I can’t be a tourist if I can’t walk. I guess I wait until tomorrow. Coming home doesn’t bother me in the least because I am in pain and know there is no point in staying. Maybe as Jane said - I’m getting too old for the way I travel. 

Portela to O Pino, Spain

 Day 12  Portela to O Pino, Spain

It was another boring day for me.  Day 3 without walking and I’m not getting better.  I tried to get a physio appointment tomorrow here in O Pino but no luck.  I will definitely see someone in 2 days in Santiago and I will see from there.  I do not have an onward flight booked and if it’s going to take awhile to get better I will have to consider my options.  I can’t do anything if I can’t walk.

All of the 12 guests at Jorge’s were gone by 10 a.m.  He told me he would pick me up by 11 to take me to the bus depot 5 minutes away.  At 10:45 I texted him to remind him and eventually he replied saying he was coming but would take me to the next big centre.  Fine.  Only problem was I missed my connection to O Pino so he had to bring me here, 26 km instead of 3.

I was nervous about not getting to O Pino before 1 p.m. because we are staying in Albergue de peregrino’s de O Pino and it’s a public albergue which means it is cheap (€10) and does not take reservations.  There are many horror stories about people not having a place to stay, in fact the Italian boys couldn’t get a place in Padrón tonight.  That means they may have to walk another 9 km!  Anyway, Jorge got me here at 12:45 and there were 2 people in front of me.  The albergue holds 78 so we were safe-

What a great statue outside the Albergue-

Because I am a cripple we get to sleep in the main floor dorm-

Sounds like they are used to cripples because there are 12 beds in this dorm.  If the last few days are any indication of guests, we may be here alone and apparently they have not been full for one single night all year.  That’s a bit surprising but not really.  There are many guide books that suggest a person walk the Camino in stages.  They are usually 15-25 km long and most follow along.  That makes for big crowds in the end towns and sometimes a lack of rooms.  What we do and did on the French Camino is book in the middle of the stages and so far we have had luck finding lodging.

Once settled in the albergue, we walked 850 m to a pulpo ( octopus) restaurant.  We tried hitch hiking but no one stopped.  I was a bit disappointed in the meal because it didn’t have a lot of flavour besides paprika-

The wine was good and Greta from Czech Republic joined us.  She works in a science lab at a university in Prague and dissects cadavers.  She also teaches students how to do dissection.

On our way home, a young man gave us a ride and if I understood what he said he wanted to go for a drink after his work.  WTF - I could be his grandmother!  Maybe my Spanish just isn’t that good!  

Later this evening, we walked down the street to a bar that serves wine in big white bowls –

We visited with Job from the Netherlands. The bar was filled with men – no women except for pilgrims like us. Job started the Camino in Lisbon the end of August. He doesn’t walk very far each day.

Started at the Camino in the end of August. He doesn’t walk very far today.

Tomorrow I will catch a bus at 10 for O Faramello where we have a reservation so we do not have to worry we will be sleeping in the street.  I will also book an appointment with a physio in Santiago.  I can’t help but think about the great physio I saw in Leon.  I had to take a cab to the hostel for the last mile and staggered around the corner to see a physio.  He was teaching in Burgos but would see me at 8 p.m. that night - Friday.  He worked on my T band for 2 hours and at 10 pm I walked out of there without a problem and it has never returned!  I am hoping for the same result now. 

Arcade to Portela ,Spain

 Day 11  Arcade to Portela, Spain

The hostel was awesome – everyone was so quiet and the bed was very comfortable. I tried out my new coffee and it was much better than what I brought except now I have to figure out how much to use at a time. That’s a hard problem to have! Mirjanne was on the road just before eight and I left a little later to walk towards the train station,  stopping at a bakery for bread for lunch and for a coffee.  Many bakeries serve a little treat when you order coffee –

Another beautiful flower –

There was no one working at the train station, but there was a cool machine and you could have a FaceTime call with someone who worked for the train company. I had her check the next few days to see if the buses actually go where I want to go-

At the bus station, I visited with a girl from Ottawa. There are a lot more pilgrims around now that all the paths have joined up. It’s definitely not the same and the people we met on the coastal trail are long gone because they cut off at Tui and we carried on around the coast. Last night at the restaurant, we joined Lori, a woman from north of San Francisco. She is walking alone and is quite lonely. She is retired, but works part-time at a winery which she absolutely loves. Yesterday we also visited with a woman from New Mexico who is a mental health therapist, but a real one – not a colourer or a card player! 

I took the train from Arcade to Pontevedra and then walked across a small parking lot to the bus station. That was so convenient and well thought out by the city.There was supposed to be a bus going to Portela, at least according to the website. At the bus station the sign board said the bus would be between pillars 16–20. The first bus I went into the driver was very helpful. He had not a clue if his bus went to Portela or not, so he checked his phone, phoned his boss and finally left the bus to find someone. He was so patient and kind.There was another bus next-door so I asked that driver and he said yes that he went there. As it turned out what he really meant was that he went by and that he would let me out on the highway, and I would have to walk in. That was all fine and my legs held up OK.

Jorge manages the hostel in Portela, but it is closed at the moment for renovations. He feels bad for pilgrims so he opens up his own house. He charges €15 a night and then he provides all sorts of food – the fridge is full, including beer and wine and asks that we donate to the grocery fund. It is awesome! I’ve been here since noon, relaxing on the couch while the cleaner was here. Three people from Finland have also arrived. I’ve washed clothes, I’ve done a bunch of research for continuing my trip, and soon Mirjanne will be here.  It’s been a hot day walking for her- 22 km and 28 degrees!

The house is called Casa de Cubana-

The back yard-

The view-

Our bedroom which we are sharing with 2 Italian women-

The kitchen-

The living room-

Jorge stocks the fridge with beer, wine, and food.  The women from Finland made supper and I helped clean up.  There were 8 of us for supper - 2 from Colombia, 3 from Finland, Mirjanne, me and a transformer from Ukraine-

Tomorrow Jorge said that he would drive me to the bus depot and from there I will take a bus to O Piño and wait in line at 1 PM to get pilgrim beds in the pilgrim hostel.  I truly wish I was walking!