I am writing this entry on the high-speed train from Santiago back to Madrid. I'm excited to catch everyone up on the last few days--including finishing our trek (!!)--but I'm also super bummed because I, along with another student, had knives (that were going to be gifts for friends at home) confiscated in train security. We'd been given certificates by the knife-maker to get them on the train, but we learned today that those certificates are only good for 72 hours, and we would have needed new certificates reissued, which would have been impossible to get from Toledo to Santiago. In addition to being bummed that 1) my gifts were confiscated and 2) they weren't cheap, I"m mostly annoyed that I've been toting the extra weight for 3 weeks only to have them confiscated 2 days before the trip officially ends! In the immortal words of Liz Lemon, "Blerg." Okay, enough self-pity. Good to know for next Camino. Also, Spanish train stations, you're missing out on a real profit maker by allowing folks to mail their confiscated knives at a premium. Food for thought.
Let's get back to the trip.
Day 23 / June 4 - Arzúa to Pedruouso (12.29 miles)
Today was the penultimate day of walking. Jeff and I once again got an early start to beat the heat and enjoyed a few quite miles of mist and dappled light. Since today is kind of another "we did a lot of a walking, had a snack, and reached our destination," I'm going to use this day as an opportunity to reflect on ways to enhance my next experience on the Camino (because there will be a next experience!)
Knives as gifts:
Don't do it unless you can ship it from the store from which you bought it.
Cafe stops:
As it pertains to documenting this trip, one of my regrets is that I didn't do a better job documenting our cafe stops along each stage. It's always a bit of a crap shoot as to when you're going to stumble across a cafe for a snack or beverage or lunch--for the most part, the cafe stops were generally available every 4-6 miles, but not always. Good to have emergency snacks on hand. Jeff and I tried to have a policy of never stopping at the first cafe in town (usually super crowded) but if you skip the first cafe, you run the risk of not running into another one. I'd say that 80% of Jeff's and my cafe stops were fantastic--only a few misses. But other than a few food pictures, I didn't do a good job of remembering cafe names or dropping pins each day. Lesson learned for next time.
The pilgrim passport:
At the very beginning of the trip, we were issued pilgrim passports that at first I thought were just some sort of schlocky touristy thing a la the passports you might get at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival or Flower and Garden Festival (ask me how I know). The pilgrim passports are actually quite different. You need them to 1) officially register as a pilgrim on the camino 2) check into some albergues (that are specifically reserved for peregrinos as opposed to general tourists) and 3) get stamped along the Camino to prove that you're actually walking it. I was pretty lax the first 5-6 days of walking and maybe got a stamp a day. I didn't realize that virtually EVERYWHERE you stop along the camino (cafe, restaurant, albergue, person selling gifts in the middle of a forrest, someone playing music, etc.) will have a unique stamp (sello) for your passport. It actually becomes quite important in the last 5 days of the trip. If you're traveling el Camino Frances (like we were), you need to prove that you walked (no taxis, no busses) the last ~100kilometers (I think starting around Sarria) in order to receive the compostela at the end. I was fine and got all the stamps I needed to prove that I walked, but I regret not collecting more stamps because they're just very cool.
So pretty minor changes for next trip, but good to keep in mind.
Back to the road. Jeff and I stopped for some food and a beverage about 2 miles out of our final destination of Pedruouso, where we reunited with about a half dozen students. We enjoyed our break and meal with these students and walked together for the last 2 miles. Jeff and I always enjoy walking with students--it's a highlight of the trip--but we also understand that students may not always want to walk with us depending on what their topic of conversation is. That said, the last two miles went by very quickly with this group. Thanks for letting us walk with you.
We made it to Pedruouso, where the customer service was warm and welcoming, the lodging was clean...and that's about all I can report on Pedruoso. Not a lot going on in this town. I can't even remember where or what we had for dinner. I just asked Jeff and he had the same response. It's like trying to name a main character (first and last) in Rogue One. Totally impossible. Yeah, I said it. Rogue One didn't work as an effective story because it didn't have memorable characters. Don't @ me. Would probably be one of very few towns I'd recommend skipping in future itineraries.
We concluded the day with our last presentation on Santiago from Necie, Tia, Amy, and Alivia (well done!) and then ate dinner...somewhere.
It was a great presentation spot until someone discovered ticks in the ground.
We are not winning the bug game on this Camino.
Day 24 / June 5 - Pedruouso to Santiago! (12+. I think I logged 19 total on the day from there-and-backs between hotel and city center)
Our final day of walking! WOW!! And we got to celebrate the birthdays of Nicole and Chris! Happy birthday, y'all!
I think folks were pretty stoked to start the day en route to our final destination of Santiago. We agreed as a group to walk into the plaza together, so we set a meet-up spot (kind of) about 2 miles away from our final destination so that folks could meet up. We gave everyone a 12PM meeting time to walk approximately 10 miles. Folks could leave Pedruouso on their own time depending on their pace, how many times they stopped, and what time they woke up.
Jeff and I hit the road around the same time as most students and logged about 5 or 6 miles before stopping at a really great little cafe. I actually remember the name of this one: Kilometro 15. I think. A few students also stopped when we stopped, so we had some company on and off the trail, which was great. After the cafe stop, we had a few forested miles that had a few artists posted up playing music, providing a wax stamp (so cool!) for pilgrim passports, and selling local art.
Things went a little sideways (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being total disaster, it was a 2), trying to get everyone in the same spot for our meetup. We had decided on Monte do Gozo as a meet-up location, but the problem with this is that Monte do Gozo refers to a lot of stuff. There's a park, an albergue, a Google Maps pin, etc. We wanted to choose a spot that would have bathroom facilities and ideally a place to sit and get a bite to eat, so while the park was a good landmark, it didn't have the infrastructure we needed nor did it provide much shade. A student who wasn't having an especially good day got to the general meeting area before us. He had some issues navigating around construction, trying to communicate with a cab driver, and identifying a good spot to wait for us. Fortunately, he found a great spot and Jeff, a few students and I were ablet too connect with him in not too much time. Once we'd established a meeting spot, it was pretty difficult to communicate this information out effectively AND flag people down/keep folks from overshooting the meeting spot/help them avoid construction, but we eventually got everyone together and there was much rejoicing.
With less than 2 miles to go, we, as a group of 29 (24 students, 3 faculty, 2 parents) started our final walk into Santiago. Somehow, Jeff got separated from the group so I positioned myself between Jeff's location and the group's location (which was a half-mile difference) while Jeff ran to catch us. Traveling in a large group is tough, even in the best of conditions. My sister sings a song that we sang a lot on this trip: "Patience is a virtue that we all need to haaaaaave...." :)
Jeff eventually caught up to us and he and I positioned ourselves slightly up route from the group so we could video and take pictures of the group entering the Plaza housing the famous Cathedral of Santiago. Entering the plaza was pretty special. There was a bagpiper serenading us as we walked through the tunnel that opened up in to the giant plaza. And so, so many people celebrating! Lots of emotions from folks--joy, relief, celebration, tiredness, contentment. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves
After spending some time in the plaza, we gave folks a little bit of free time to explore Santiago while Jeff and I went to the pilgrim passport office to get the official compostela for our group members. This is another experience that will be good to document for future Caminos.
1) The passport office is very strict about what goes on your compostela. Even though we started walking in Roncesvalles, the office staff was very clear that our certificates needed to say Molinaseca because that was the last location from which we stopped using a bus or taxi. Your compostela is based on your consecutive walk with not breaks. So Molinaseca it is.
2) We were able to batch register our group, but we needed to know everyone's birthdays. We had this information as DOB but not as age. All totally figure-outtable, but it would have sped up the process a lot if we'd collected this information ahead of time.
3) Turns out you can pre-register your group online. Good to know.
Okay, so Jeff and I registered everyone, checked certificates, and then spent a few minutes painstakingly rolling the compostelas into canisters that we labled to avoid damaging the certificates in transit. Mega shoutout to the staff at the compostela office--they were super friendly and helpful and were not the least bit judgmental as Jeff and I faffed around trying to convert birthdays and match certificates and make sure we were spelling names correctly. Good times.
Afterwards, we met up with the group to enter the cathedral for the pilgrim's mass. After sitting down and waiting for about 15 minutes, we discovered that we had the time wrong for the mass (d'oh!) and it wasn't going to start for another 2 hours, so instead we visited the tomb of St. James' relic (allegedly) and visited the statue of St. James--pilgrims are encouraged to give it a hug: "el abrazo del apostal." We did. TBH felt a little awkward hugging a statue, but when in Santiago, gotta do what you gotta do.
Some history on the cathedral itself (from official website)
"Bernard the Elder, Admirable Master, and Roberto, began the construction of the Romanesque Cathedral in 1075, during the reign of Alfonso VI, when Diego Peláez was bishop. After that initial stage, a number of historical changes suspended or, at least, slowed down the works until they were newly launched during in times of Archbishop Gelmírez, in 1100. The works were commissioned to Master Esteban (also known as “Maestro de Platerías”); little by little the construction of the Cathedral progressed throughout the 12th century. In 1168 Master Mateo was commissioned to complete it, including the western closure and the building of the Choir in the main nave. In 1211 the Basilica was consecrated before Alfonso IX.
Although the fundamental medieval structure has been preserved, over the centuries the Cathedral has changed its physiognomy as a result of the building of the Cloister and its annex areas, during the Renaissance, and especially during the Baroque period, when works such as the main chapel, the organs, the closing of the chevet or the Obradoiro facade were carried out, among other important developments. During the Neoclassic period the new Azabachería facade was executed and over the past one hundred years different actions have continued to be carried out.Okay, after cathedral visit, there was free time and dinner on your own. I ate dinner with Deya and the Salazars and then had second dinner with Jeff. I turned in early and missed the tuna performances, but I did see them the following night so I'll discuss them then."
Total mileage: between 230-240 miles (varies slightly for everyone--I think I ended up at 238)
Day 25 / June 6 (no more mileage to log!) - Vigo Beach Day
Wow, how great a feeling to not have to repack a backpack and/or put on hiking shoes, because today was a BEACH day!! Wooooo!
The group walked or cabbed to the train station and hopped aboard a 1-hr train to Vigo, where we met our bus driver, Francisco, and hopped aboard a bus en route to the beach. We stopped off briefly at an overlook so students could see the port. As a port town, Vigo is known for car production, shipping--stuff like that. You've got an old, historic part of the city as well as a a lot of industrial looking parts. And cruise ships. Mostly smaller, European lines.
The beach itself was beautiful. It wasn't very crowded, and while the water was a tad bit on the cold side, it was pretty perfect weather for hanging out on the sand, throwing or kicking a ball, reading a book, or taking a nap. There was a section of beach with really hard-packed sand, so I immediately went into gazelle mode and went on a beach run--one of my favorite activities in the world. A few students joined me for the last half mile and it filled my heart with joy. And my muscles with lactic acid. We were booking. It was obvious that everyone--faculty included--were ready for a day to relax and celebrate being done with our very long walk.
We bussed/trained back to Santiago, got ready for dinner, and headed to Restaurante Cotolay for our official farewell dinner. Cotolay was lovely! They had the entire interior restaurant reserved for us and the food was quite good. Patatas bravas, croquetas, tortilla, chicken milanesa, flan and tarta de Santiago. It was all great. A few folks gave toasts of gratitude and there were lots of smiles and hugs exchanged.
Fairwell dinner at Cotolay
Flan for dessert
After dinner, we headed to the plaza to view the best sunset of the trip and to listen to the music and the dancing of the tunas. I stayed in the plaza for about half an hour to listen to the music and watch the sunset before calling it a night. I want to add some info and context for the tuna performers, but I'm feeling a little lazy and don't want to translate, so if you're feeling froggy: https://tunaderechosantiago.com/
View of cathedral just before sunset
Tunas performing
Tunas performing
Tunas performing
Day 26 / June 7 - Santiago back to Madrid
We are caught up! We've got about another half hour on the train before arriving in Madrid.
(finishing post at 12:45am)
Okay, so we are back in Hotel Mediodia in Madrid. After getting folks sorted in their rooms, we offered the option to join the faculty at El Marcado de San Miguel in Madrid, which is a super fun market with TONS of food options for adventurous eaters.
I will probably have one more post for this trip, which will include the official end of the Westminster May Term Study Experience (today and tomorrow) as well as Jeff's and my unofficial side quest to Barcelona from June 9-11. Cheers!
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