September 29th: 22k  Woke up to a foggy Galician morning. The uphill of 236 meters over 9.5k wasn't too bad. Thought it might be starting to rain, but it was just drips from the forest canopy.   Stopped at a tray of bags of fruit by donation. We chose pears. Met up with Julian and…

September 28th: 23k Started the day with the 1k walk into the cathedral. I wasn't expecting to be as emotional as last year, but I had my moment in the courtyard. Again it was a feeling of overwhelming gratitude: that we were able to see Santiago again, that this time was relatively pain free due…

Why pilgrims don't lose weight. These are all in Santiago where most end their pilgrimage. Churros con chocolate: A three course meal for 9.5e plus the 8.5e bottle of Rioja. That is a whole pork shank in caramelized onions and an entire sole with homemade chips. First course of tapas, free with a drink order…

September 27: Coastal route – 24.6k Last night was pilgrim party night in Padron, first with drinks at a table of 7, two from Germany, the two of us, a Polish girl, a man from Spain and one from the Netherlands.  The Camino is all about the people. Then we stopped for tapas dinner with another…

September 26: 18k – Coastal Route  A nice quiet room last night overlooking the town's Roman bridge.  We were able to keep the window open for the cool breezes and had a badly needed good night's sleep.  There was a cafe at the 5k point, where it felt like a Camino reunion. We didn't know…

The animals of the Camino The African Grey Parrot, loudly entertaining from across the street from our hotel in Oia, was just one of our animal encounters. Anyone who has walked the Camino is familiar with the barking dogs. C says they think they are doing a good job scaring the pilgrim's off because that's…

September 25th: 22k – Coastal Route A night without sleep is a scary prospect when faced with a 22k walk in the morning. The town was alive with partiers until 6:00 a.m. It was the crash of broken glass at 1:26a.m that was the worst. The staff at the restaurant below the hotel threw box…

September 24th: 19.6k  The beach on the estuary was much calmer as we left this morning. We passed a lavadero publico, the first time I've seen one being used. There are public areas meant for hand clothes washing. I'm surprised that municipalities maintain them given that washers are more commonly used at home or launderette.…

September 23rd: 22.9k – Coastal Route, joining the Central Route If you think about it, five hours of hiking just doesn't seem like much, but throw in some steep inclines and the corresponding downhills, I can't adequately describe how it feels. It's only for maybe 1-2k uphill, but it feels like your nose will scrape…

September 22: Coastal route – 26.6k +\- Pinned my wet socks to my pack to dry, packed the leftover cheese and prosciutto for lunch and we were back on our way, generally speaking. Trouble is there were no arrows pointing to the beach way. At some point we ended up on the main coastal route…