Day 37 - To Padron

To Santiago de Compostela: 25 km
Walked today: 26 km
Total walked: 687 km

The day was expected to be warm, again we were up at 5 am and started walking in the dark.  Caldas de Reis is a nice little town, we crossed another ancient bridge and a bit later we were out in the country.

We've had our regular breakfast of a bottle of juice, a sweet bun and a fruit at our room but we were missing a hot drink.  There is nothing for 5 km so we did not our drinks for almost two hours. 

We are slow walkers and we stop often to take pictures.  So pilgrims kept passing us including our new gang who have started calling ourselves the family.

I have made really good friends with a Russian teen and her mom.  They are very nice and have a great relationship.  This young girl gave us the best compliment anyone can ever give us.  She said she would like to grow up to be like us.  To tell the truth I really like her back.  She is a very polite, nice, pretty and good girl.

The walk today was easy, mostly away from roads and crossing evergreen and eucalyptus woods. Today even the slopes were gentle.

When we arrived to the river which marks the entrance to Padron it was 1 pm so we stopped at a cafe for a bocadillo, it means little bite, in reality they are half of a baguette stuffed with ham and cheese.  Good lunch.

From there it was a short distance to our hotel.  Following the routine we showered, Brenda washed the clothes, a nap and then out for a tour of the town.  We visited the church of Santiago de Padron.  It has a statue of Santiago Matamoros (the moor slayer) and another one of a guy who looks like Santiago Peregrino but it is San Roque.  Wonder Woman tells  me that you can recognize San Roque because he is always represented showing a knee. 

After that we went to a bar to get some ice cream and we spent some time talking to Margarita, the proprietor, she is pure Gallega and very entertaining.  We also met her husband and her daughter.

Finally we walked over to a restaurant we had picked for dinner with the family.  This group is breaking up.  My friend Ksinia and her mom Katia need to get early to Santiago to obtain their Compostela.  They are flying tomorrow night.  We said good bye to them. My teen friend made a bracelet for me.  I am touched.  I wish we could spend more time with them.

I think we will not see again Herbert and Clemens from Germany, the two Karen's from Australia, Shirley from New Zealand, Liz and Yethel from Denmark and many others.

Tomorrow we are walking only half way to Santiago, just over 10 km to Teo, may be we just want to make this last a little longer. That means we will be left behind from most of the family.

Our plan is to arrive to Santiago on Thursday and we already have plans to meet some of our friends from our Lisboa gang.

Sad good byes, mixed feelings, the Camino lifestyle and the relationships we create here are very unique.  But also we are approaching our goal.  To visit the tomb of the apostle, to pray at his tomb, to think over the reflections we had on the Camino.

Some pictures from today are below

Tonight we pray to St. Anthony of Lisboa for all the people who has helped us to get here.  Including the agent of Proteccion Civil who was on the Camino watching over us pilgrims.  We also ask St. Anthony to pray for us pilgrims and for our families