After completing the Camino Ingles yesterday, I decided to spend the time between now and when my daughter and son-in-law arrive, sightseeing and playing tourist. I will still be doing some walking, but I want to let my ankle rest a bit so it will be the best it can be for our walk between Sarria and Santiago. This morning I wandered around the cathedral area of Santiago, shot some photos, and picked up a couple of things that I wanted to take back home. I ran into the father and daughter from Holland, Leon and Rosa, and we took some photos together in front of the cathedral. They are going down to Finisterre for a couple of days before heading back home. It was a cool and foggy morning, but I managed to get a few photos. I also visited a smaller church just off of the plaza in front of the cathedral.
I had lunch in a little cafe near the pilgrim office and then caught a ride to my next stop which was Negreira. My driver was named Fernando and he had dreams of one day visiting New York City. He told me that he had lived in Santiago his entire life. He has seen videos of tornados on television and seemed to think that the entire United States is hammered by them regularly. From what I understood, he seemed to think that the only two places that don't have tornados are New York City and California. We chatted away on our way down toward the coast and before we knew it, we had arrived in the little town of Negreira.
Once I arrived and checked in, I wandered around a bit and took a few more photos. I remembered the town from when Savanna and I walked through it in 2018 on our way to Finisterre and Muxia. There isn't a lot to see or photograph there. I mainly just rested and relaxed a bit. I tried to catch up on my blog, but the Wi-Fi was glitchy, so I had to abandon that idea.
The next day around noon I got a ride from Negreira to the little town of A Picota. I checked into a cool little hotel there and explored the area and took some photos. I found a little church a little way out of town, but it was locked up. On the way back to town I ran into a couple from Arizona that had completed the Camino Frances and are now walking down to Muxia. The village of A Picota is off the Camino trail a bit, but like me, that is where they found a place to stay. John, Maria and I had a great time chatting the afternoon away and then went and had pizza together. In the little Pizzaria, we met three ladies from Calgary, Canada. One of the ladies was on her sixth Camino. Her two companions were on their first one. We all had a great time but soon it was time to turn in. John and Maria were going to walk all the way to Finisterre in the morning. That is 38 kilometers from A Picota. Hopefully I will see them again in Muxia. The three ladies were heading to Cee which was 23 kilometers away.
I contemplated walking to Cee today but after walking around a bit with my pack, I decided to give my ankle some more time and caught a ride instead. I had a lovely driver named Anna and we had a wonderful time talking on the way down to Cee. She told me that she had lived in A Picota her entire life and had a ten-year-old daughter. It seems pretty common over here that people often stay in the town where they were born for their entire lives. At least for the older people. A lot of the younger generation move to the cities for work and the excitement of living in a larger city. I met an older gentleman who was standing along the country road that I was walking on a few days ago. His name was Pepito, and he told me that he was 79 years old even though he looked more like 60. He said that a lot of the small villages are dying because the younger generation has no interest in living in them. The ones along the Camino trails are still hanging on due to the pilgrims passing through them and spending money there. Pepito showed me the small house where he and his nine brothers and sisters were raised. He also showed me the stone wash area that had a creek flowing through it where his mother washed the family's clothes. He said that he understood why the young people decide not to work the farms because it is a hard life. I gathered that he might have been the last surviving sibling and was still living in the house that he had grown up in.
Anna soon dropped me in the seaside town of Cee. She gave me a hug, kissed me on each cheek, wished me a Buen Camino, and then headed back to her hometown. I decided to wander around town for a while and take some photos. I stopped at a little picnic table next to the water and had leftover pizza for lunch. I found a little church and went inside and took some photos. It was decorated for a wedding, I think. As I was leaving, people started arriving wearing formal attire. It was a beautiful church, but I didn't want to intrude so I made my way back outside as people started entering.
I found my hotel for the night and checked in. My room actually has air conditioning which is nice since the hotel is located on a narrow street with not much access to the ocean breeze. So that brings everyone up to date on what I have been doing and where I am at. Tomorrow I am heading to Finisterre. I will tell you more about that town tomorrow. To see all of the photos I took for the past several days go to my YouTube channel here:
I will check in again tomorrow from Finisterre. Until then Buen Camino!
Comentarios