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Day 36 June 6 Monday Santiago

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​ Day 36 June 6 Monday Santiago Well the day had to come as we all know - the fun has to come to an end. I never thought I would say that after how painful my feet were in 2017. Because of that experience I was properly prepared for this full 800km Camino.  The high- light of arriving into Santiago is attending the 12 noon pilgrim mass. The advice on my previous Camino was to position one’s self the night before close so one has a short walk into the city. That advise did not get put into our itinerary and thus we had a 20km stroll this morning. Don’t get me wrong 20 km is just a short day for us - 4 hr or so however when one factors in checking into a hotel and showering before church one has to set the alarm a little earlier. I was on the trail by 6:45am - could have been earlier but it was pitch black and one doesn’t want to wreck the perfect record in not making a wrong turn on the last day. At this early hour there were already pilgrims on the path. The grades were reasonable and
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Day 35 June 5

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​ Day 35 June 5 Pentecost Sunday Rua Spain It is hard to believe we are on the eve of walking into Santiago tomorrow having started out day one on May 2nd What seemed a hill too high to climb is all but beat so to speak Not too much to see in our second to last walk  I did see something odd being beer bottle art. There is a private label Camino beer and this particular bar has the patrons sign their bottles and continue the display I guess recycle and return bottle trips is not in vogue The flowers continue to be striking roses and fuchsia as we trek along Much more traffic on the paths today especially as the morning progressed. Sitting at our lodging we watch the pilgrims passing by at a steady pace. The king palm trees seem so out of place here considering they are very mature trees.  As we walked into Rua this sign tells us it is only 22 km to Santiago. For those who know where I live it is like a walk from my home at Gotham’s Bluff to Kingston and return It is that close now Some
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Day 34 June 4 Saturday Arzua

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​ Day 34 June 4 Saturday Arzua Lots of rain last afternoon and evening and we woke to a very heavy land fog but no rain. On the trail by 7:15am for two reasons/ 1 - we have a 30+ km day to walk and 2- we heard the rain was to come in around 1 -2 pm and I am still a little afraid of melting. We walked right through with only two brief stops and no lunch on the trail and this achieved its end goal - arriving in Arzua before the rain. Rain did happen around 4 but we were well situated - no worries. Rained as well this evening with the expectation that we will be dry walking in the morning. If so that will be 1 rain day only in 35 days walking the Camino. That has to be some kind of a record. Easy walk today albeit one of our longer ones - which says volumes for the shape we are in at the end of the 800 km Camino. We had lots of kms in the wooded paths today many of which were the planted eucalyptus forests. They brought this species over from Australia for the paper industry as the eucaly
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Day 33 June 3 Friday Palas de Rei

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​ Day 33 June 3 Friday Palas de Rei Last evening I caught this rainbow over the towns name however it was for sure not the end of the mighty storm in this area  We attended pilgrim Mass at the San Nicolas’ church last evening. It is simply amazing that this church was taken down - relocated to the top of the hill - and rebuilt stone by stone. Beautiful sanctuary- one gets to appreciate the simplistic after so many heavily brass and gold leaf works of art Last evening there was much discussion within the pilgrims of considering a taxi if the mornings weather forecast held true. Not in my plans. I have walked every step thus far and another day of rain will be just that - another day We awoke to a very heavy sky - however no rain. So I started out at 7:30am as any other day in my shorts and Tee wearing my sunglasses which some thought was too much however I like the light protection on the eyes even if the sun is not present. My walking partner kept talking about the ant statues / which
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Day 32 June 2 Thursday Portomarin

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​ Day 32 June 2 Thursday Portomarin We left Sarria this morning at 7:30am with favourable skies. Although mid morning it looked questionable we managed to walk today without rain. Once here it did rain around 3pm although we were checked in at that point. The number of walkers increased as we knew they would as Sarria is the last point one can start and walk through to Santiago 115km and receive their credentials as Camino Pilgrims. Picture 1 shows another very old tree - one of many that border this wonderful trail. Soon after leaving Sarria I came across the Albergue that I stayed in back in 2017. I actually walked by it - albeit marginally this time as it’s identification is somewhat obscure still. I guess they do not need to advertise like the others - picture 3 What was very neat was the pastured horse in the exact location as the mule was back in 2017- picture 2. Thinking this further the mule or now horse is not that stupid - as he is right on the Camino path for treats of apple
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