Today was simply a beautiful day. The sun is out and although it was crisp this morning it ended up being nice and warm as the day went on. I climbed Alto Padrón today. A challenge for a first day especially since I don’t really do any hill training. I survived though and actually convinced myself to walk an extra 3km to see Eunate. Eunate is an ancient church that is from the 12th century. It has windows made of alabaster and is octagonal.

I am staying at the parochial albergue that has been here since the 15th century. It is crowded with 12 beds to a small room with no more than 2ft between them but it is only 5€ a night so that is what you get. I like it because there are all different kinds of people here. There must be at least 20 people. Most I have seen since I walked the Camino Frances last time. I love it.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be even warmer, but very cold in the morning. I cannot seem to upload pictures so I am emailing them to myself and will add the when I get home.

As Camino´s go today was a vey easy day. I caught a train in Barcelona at 7 30. Note to self you need to get to the station early as there is a line for security. Once through security the train was waiting. 4 hrs and 17 minutes to Pamplona. I walked from the train station to the albergue which was about a 20 minute walk. I was the first to check in and for a time thought that I might be the only one in the Albergue. There are now about 8 people. Koreans, Japanese, Brazilian and Spaniards.

I did some exploring today it is such a beautiful city. Very few tourists or pilgrims so mainly locals. I had a nice lunch and now it´s siesta time.

Tomorrow I start to walk.

Today was our Final day of walking. We stayed in a Xunta albergue that is about 17k from Santiago so the walk is relatively short. a little less then 4 hrs.

W decided to start at 7:00am with our headlamps. This is a first for this camino. Our albergue is in a place called Outerio, which is basically a spot along the way up in the hills of Galicia. It is a Beautiful modern building. Except for the Hospitalero, Francisco. Ed and I are the only pilgrims in the palace. Fernando told us that there were two pilgrims yesterday but no more today.

We walked until we found or first Bar which is about 200m off the camino. Carmen the owner made us an awesome plate for breakfast. We had a grilled cheese sandwich a piece of tarta De Santiago, another piece of cake and a cookie. The coffee was scooper hot. All and all very delicious. After breakfast she showed us her new albergue that she is building. It is really beautiful, 2 double rooms a kitchen, lavadora and secadora, men’s and women’s restrooms with showers and a bunk room. Each bunk bed has a light and 2 usb chargers.

As will all walked into Santiago the walk was up and down. Since Santiago is built on a hill I told Ed that we would be climbing a bit today. We crossed the railroad track at the point where the terrible AVE crashed occurred. There is still a memorial to the lost soles.

From there we climbed up the hill toward the university of Santiago and the down into The Valley before climbing up to Galicia plaza and walking along the old town to the Plaza de Obrigado.

Once there we took al of the pictures and then had a chance to meet Clinton. Ed and I checked into our hotel or should I say cell. It was small but had two beds and an on suite so that is a winner.

We then headed to the Cathedral for the Pilgrims mass which I always love. After Mass I went to Confession which is the culmination of my Camino.

I then ran up and took a shower and changed into some warmer clothes.

Finally, we walked down to the pilgrims office and got our Compostelas and certificates of distance. Over the two years that I walked this Camino I walked 1007k or about 620 miles. However, I know that I also took a train for 166k and a bus for mother 34k so I really walked closer to 800 which is still by any means an amazing accomplishment.

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Location:Santiago de Compostela