The walk over the last three days has been dominated by rain. At the end of the day everyone is struggling
to get dry… boots, sox, pants, shirts, tee shirts, vest. All are soaked even though the outer layer is
covered by a waterproof. One albergue
has an inviting fire place in the
bar/lounge/dining area. It is a great
place for drying boots, gloves and sox.
There is no washer or dryer available here. A group of Austrians are hovering around the
fireplace making sure that their boots are front and center for drying. It is comical to watch. Every now and then the owner of the albergue
re arranges the boots so everyone gets a fair share at boot drying. Soon afterward the Austrians come back and
move their shoes to the place nearest the heat.
I am happy to report that my boots were dry and ready for walking in the
morning.
I have chosen my next
albergue by the fact that it has a washer and dryer available. The volume of
traffic has picked up over the last few days the closer I get to Santiago . I
have walked with Spanish school groups who are on Fall break, groups of Danish,
Irish, French and Dutch making the journey of the last 100km. With the greater
numbers of pilgrims the urgency to get to Santiago also increases. Here
are scenes from my last day walking into Santiago on October 18th.  |
| A real street sign |
 |
| Just landed ... at the edge of the Camino |
 |
| Autopista |
 |
| Camino and the airport runway |
 |
| arriving in Santiago |
 |
| The sign I have been looking for |
they call"multi modal" in traffic
engineering lingo. The Camino
is bordered on one side by the
autopista and the airport
landing/take off runway on the
other. With all this traffic Santiago
can't be far.
 |
| Cathedral spires in the distance |
My goal today is to get the PILGRIM OFFICE in Santiago , validate my Credencial del Peregrino, receive my Compostela and check into my hotel.
No more albergue life on this trip!
