So that's that then. All done and dusted.
Can I just say, to whoever it was that posted the thread on Rest Step/Sherpa Steps:
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!
You made hills comfortable, O Cebreiro achievable and Poio physically possible.
You shall live on in my heart (and lungs and knees) forever.
Arrived back yesterday and now just lounging around staring at the new Compostela hanging on the wall.
Hard going this one - I can plod along and do distance on the flat, I can do heat on the flat too but I can't to distance and heat up a mountain.
Last. Camino. Ever.
Random thoughts from a returning Pilgrim
Why is it when a peregrino is bursting for a pee and there’s no cover a peregrina is walking slowly behind him?
Similarly when a peregrina is in the same situation and there’s nobody about, as soon as she dives off piste (so to speak) 3 peregrinos turn up out of the blue.
Saw a BTT for sale in a shop window in Arzua for €4299 (honestly). GPSs fitted to bikes are commonplace and cost €400 upwards. GoPro cameras €350 and yet cyclists won’t lash out €2.50 for a cheap “ping” bell.
Why is Russian Salad Russian?
By what logic would you close a hotel for redecoration during the high season?
Whose bright idea was it to destroy the descent from Mostelares by laying down a big slab of concrete?
Why do the most obnoxious “pilgrims” often turn out to be your own fellow countrymen (and women)?
In general we are greeted with open arms by the people of Spain and thank them by leaving a trail of toilet paper, urine and worst right across their country.
Is irony walking through a small village near Samos that is wall to wall cow muck only to see a sign as you exit beseeching you not to use the woods as a toilet?
In order of preference La Casera limon, Kas limon, Schweppes and, if stuck, Fanta (yuk).
Who thought sticking a soggy biscuit on top of natillas would improve it?
Best pulpo – Nosa Terra in Palas de Rey or Ezequial in Melide? Still can’t decide.
Why, when I told the clerk in the Pilgrims’ Office this would be my last ever Camino, did he laugh and say (in English) “See you soon!”
What happened to the other brand new black flip-flop once the owner realised they had lost one?
Similarly, once the remaining black sock with white decoration discovered its pair had fallen by the wayside did it jump or was it abandoned in disgust a few kilometres further on?
I haven’t changed one bit in four years so why is the Camino so different from what it was?
Why is the famous Santiago marker stone so far from the city of Santiago?
Why is the most average Spanish coffee infinitely superior to anything Starbucks have ever sold?
Why am I carrying a poncho AND a lightweight fleece when it’s a heat wave that even the Spanish are moaning about?
If the Frances route was stretched out so that it was completely flat along the whole way how long would it be and who can we get to do that? I mean if they can do it for the Meseta . . . .
A solution to the Brexit issue. Pro-Europeans in the UK get together with the Spanish navy and mount a new Armada. This time the Spanish win, the UK gets subsumed into the Kingdom of Spain and stays in the EU . . .
How do Canadians manage to keep their Tilley hats so pristine? I buy a new one and after a couple of weeks it looks like I’ve been wearing it 24/7 for a year.
What did I eat for dinner last night? Can’t have ensalada mixta three nights in a row.
Why does Spanish require an E before an S (espagueti, España)?
I could do my next Camino like those French people across the plaza there . . . air conditioned car and a chiller box of cold drinks
Where did I sleep last night? Where did I sleep on Tuesday?
I recognise this bit, it’s where I saw <
fill in with memory> back in 2001/2003/2012 . . . .
Considering it’s a pilgrimage route why are so many churches locked?
Having told so many people to visit San Nicolas church in Furelos how embarrassing to find it locked up too.
With apologies to Albert Hammond . . .
“Seems it never rains in Santiago de Compostela
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in Santiago
But girl, don't they warn ya
It pours, man it pours”
SO glad I carried that fleece and poncho all the way across Spain (15 degrees and peeing with rain on the last day)
The linen closet in the Reyes Catolicos had what the British would call very large “tea towels” in it. After an afternoon’s shopping returned to find housekeeping had taken them out and laid them on top of the bedside rugs. Was that to keep the rugs clean from our boots or our feet clean from antique rugs?
I’d like a chocolate caliente machine like the one at the breakfast buffet at home.
So that's that then
.
All Camino'd out at present but thank you for the company, the advice and the banter. Couldn't have done it without you or my friend Jo.
See you along the Way - Ultreia!
