Ina with family on Coastal Portugues  

Day 16         Santiago                   Friday 10/08/2018 Up latish, off to the pilgrims’ office for our compostela (certificate). Andrea had been last night with her pilgrim’s passport and those of the four youngsters she had arrived with to start the camino - how many days ago? There was a separate “check-in” for groups, but that applied only for those who had started in the same place, so Alison and I were not included in our group. Thinking that the queue would be shorter relatively early in the morning, we went at 8.30 am before breakfast - and joined a queue which was expected to take about an hour!  Had told the youngsters to go for breakfast by themselves. Apparently they provided some animation for those who were there already, because the breakfast buffet was something they had never seen before. Neither had we when at last we got there. The children had left by then and we had the most lav...

Day 15          Padrón  -  Santiago         Thursday  09/08/2018 20 km + 300 m height difference = 23 km effort         6 hrs + 1 1/2 hrs pauses WE MADE IT! At 3.30 pm! The rain came down in buckets last night and continued well during the night! So this morning it was very cold and and we all wore long sleeves. The sky was grey and misty. We advanced speedily in these perfect walking conditions. There were considerable ups and downs, the usual mix of road and path, forest and fields. Also the usual grouping and regrouping of our lot. The sun came out but never became really hot. As we were entering the outskirts of the city the chemist was indicating 22 degrees. At one point we overtook two women whom I had noticed before from afar. One of them was carrying two identical packs, one in front and the other one on the back. The other woman was not carrying anything. And this time I saw t...

From Andrea We finally made it to Santiago this afternoon! After 11 days of walking including major heatwave with 35-40 degrees in the middle. The kids walked really well and never complained. Lots of fun along the Camino and now nice to have arrived. Now staying two nights in the Parador de Los Reyes Catolicos right next to the cathedral which is a big (very much deserved) treat for all. Hope you are all keeping well and not too hot. X Andrea All of us! Leo, Andrea and Paulo James, Clara, Ina, Leo and Paulo Just the boys: Paulo, James and Leo Nous voilà finalement arrivés à Santiago cet après-midi !  Apres onze jours de marche où nous avons connu une canicule majeure  où il faisait entre 35 et 40 degrés.  Les jeunes ont marché vraiment bien, sans jamais se plaindre. Nous nous sommes bien amusés le long du chemin et nous sommes bien contents d’être enfin arrivés. Maintenant nous  passons deux nuits dans le Parador de Los Rey...

Day 14         Caldas de Reis  -  Padrón        Wednesday  08/August/2018 21 km + 100 m height difference = 22 km         5 1/2 hrs + 2 1/2 hrs pauses Up and out early (7 am) without breakfast - the hotel (breakfast much too late for us) provided a picnic for each of us: tripple ham-cheese sandwich, a banana, an orange and a small bottle of very cold water. I ate my banana while waiting for everybody else and filled the cold water into one of my normal spare water bottles. The rest was eaten during our first break after one hour into our walk. Two more stops - in bars - as on previous days bars where Andrea and I had stopped last year. I realise this is something of a memory trip for us - it is funny how we recognize parts of the countryside “I think we are coming to the automatic bar” both of us having the same idea and there it is.... But the lunch stop we had planned in Padrón does not take plac...