Day 29

Palas de Rei to Ribadiso

26km/16miles

The dancing pilgrims statue.  I think they are dancing because they are so close to  Santiago!  

Emily and Sarah abut to cross a pretty stone bridge.  These stone bridges are very common on the camino.  

We stopped in Melide for lunch.  It's famous for octopus, which is very popular in this area.  The three of us ordered one dish to share.  It was a little creepy looking at the suction cups on the pieces, but it tasted pretty good, as long as you could get past that.  

Luckily for us we saw the whole octopus being boiled AFTER we ate it, otherwise I don't know if I could've eaten it.  

Today was more walking through small villages, farms, and livestock.  There are more and more pilgrims joining us the closer we get to Santiago.  

Today Christina, a Spanish girl from Madrid, walked with us for part of the day.   

It was a very long day.  We started late because of our nice accommodations last night we slept in and didn't start the day of walking till 9.  Then with our lunch break to eat octopus and a couple other breaks... we didn't arrive at our albergue until 5:30!  But we didn't really mind, at this point we're so laid back it doesn't matter.  Plus, we met our met out main objective for the day, which was to enjoy ourselves!  

Here is the entrance to our village where we'll stay tonight.  It's incredible to look at a sign and see that we have 40km to Santiago.  After starting at 777km?!  It's such a strange feeling to be so close!  Two days, TWO DAYS!  

I'm thankful for my new friend Sara.  It's been so wonderful to have her join Emily and I these last few days!  

I'm learning to be quiet.  Seems like a funny lesson to learn when I'm meeting so many new people and making so many friends... The Lord works in mysterious ways, and He teaches in unexpected ways.  

Day 28

Portomarin to Palas De Rei

25km/15.5miles

Today we woke up and it was 57 degrees!  Praise God!  We set out for our daily walk, the three of us, Emily, Sarah, and myself.  It rained a bit, but mostly drizzle.  But it was mostly overcast so I don't have too many pics for you.  

I just like the looks of this little tree by the house. 

It was a good day.  I'm just soaking it all in.  The end is getting bitter sweet.  Gema and the California sisters invited us to stay at a private pension that's more like a hotel than an albergue since we read in the guidebook that the bathrooms at the albergue were co-Ed and open.  The pension cost 15e whereas the albergue was 10e.  Well worth it, we figured, to have a private room for three people and a private bath!!  So exciting to have a private bath, and a real towel, and sheets!  

Then, to top it off, Juan and Ampara, some of our Spanish friends that joined us when we made dinner in Sarria, made dinner for us!  Juan had collected mushrooms all day.  He tied the ends of his rain pants and filled them up with mushrooms.  He and Ampara spent two hours in the kitchen preparing the mushrooms and rice dish for us.  We bought the wine and dessert and it was such a great meal.  They are so kind and so giving.  

Today I am thankful for good food and good friends.  

I am learning more than I can put into words right now.  

I'm praying for y'all and for your intentions.  Can you believe we're only 3 days to Santiago?!

Day 27

Sarria to Portomarin

22km/14miles

We woke up to overcast weather, nothing unusual, and 57 degrees!  Woo hoo!  The temperature combined with the fact we only have 5 days left made me ready to walk!  

Sarah's leg was bothering her so she stayed behind.  She was hoping to walk some, maybe 10km, and just take it slowly.  We ended up walking the whole day with our new friends Gema, Tara, and Stephan, the two sisters from California and the wonderful Spanish woman.  

I took a picture of this coke machine because coke is everywhere here and this vending machine in the middle if nowhere made me laugh.  

This part of Spain makes me think of Ireland.  It rains a lot and is very green.  Today we passed a lot of farms and many stone wall fences.  

Here I am by the real 100km marker.  Turns out the other one must have been 99 and someone changed it to say 100!  I wonder how many other pilgrims have a photo by the fake 100km sign!  

"Ultreia" means "continue on" or "press on".  You see it written as encouragement for the pilgrims to persevere.  

I can't tell you how great it feels to be looking at kilometer signs in the double digits after starting at about 775km! 

Here are the sights for today.  Lots of farmland.  It was quite pretty and quite peaceful.

This is the long and very tall bridge entering Portomarin.  My legs were a little shaky walking across. 

And then a nice steep set of stairs, not what you want to see at the end if the day, but a pretty cool entrance into the city. 

We arrived at about 3 and sat down for lunch right away since we hadn't eaten lunch yet.  We really getting on the Spanish schedule for meals!  At the end of lunch Sarah walked into the restaurant!  We were all so excited she made it so far and that she was recovering from her injury.   

The church was a much simpler facade than we have been seeing.  And a simple inside as well.  

Since we had a late lunch we all split pizza and salad for dinner, which is considered a small meal around here.  After dinner us six women talked for a couple if hours really getting to know each other.  It was lovely.  

Here's a cross in one of the stone fences.  I just really liked the look of it.  I'm sure I can come up with some symbolism about the cross being the center of your life or the 'rock', your stability, or how all the other pieces of your life fit around the cross... but for now I just feel like looking at it and calling it cool and that's it.  This last week of the camino is just taking it all in, absorbing as much as I can.  I think I'll reflect on it later, but for now it's just about enjoying it.  

Today I'm thankful for the wonderful women I've met on the camino.  They remind me of all the amazing women I have been blessed to have in my life.  I'm also thankful for Mass, Jenny's itouch, blister-free feet, and that we have 4 days to Santiago!  

I learned I have one of the best jobs in the world as a teacher.  I knew it, but hearing others talk about their jobs reminded me of it.  I also learned I'm going to have to buy Beth Gehring a new sleeping bag after this trip!