Gh Hotel Santiago De Compostela

... the city which contains all the old buildings and churches is pedestrianised and huddles round the grand cathedral. The Cathedral is vast and very ornate. The guide books say that is best seen in the rain so that all the lichens and mosses are highlighted. The weather duly obliged!<br><br>The car has decided to have a sick day and has gone to the Ford dealer to recuperate! We collect it tonight and move on to Portugal in the morning.

A slow morning saw us arrive in A caruna around 2:30p for a quick tour. A beautiful city where we had an excellent lunch (more kids running through the streets while we devoured raciones and wine. Yum!!) A 6ish departure for our long drive to Llanes in Astoria. We finally ...

... sunrise yoga. We later planned to go into a caruna for a day trip but thought better of it when we learned of the "end of summer" fiesta being held at the campground from 10-3am. And when I say, held at the campground I mean, held directly in front of our camper ...

... including real "pilgrims") we were back on the road to A Caruna where Ev had found a seaside campground. Back on Spanish time we had an delightful meal of Spanish tortilla (potato omlette) around 9:30 and the kids were in bed by 10:45. Yikes!!<br><br>                      <br>

... their die, so we should be really careful not to step on any little bugs. We left some bread crumbs for them instead. She also said that, as a reward for those who make it, San Andres will grant everyone one wish. We hiked out to a little fountain that is the magical fountain of San Andres. There, we all threw a bread crumb in the creek and made a wish. Maria told us that if our bread floated, it means our wish will come true, and if it sank, it will ...

... I didn't think that we were standing on top of some ancient monster skull, but the tower was pretty and had a nice view, so we enjoyed it. We then got a brief walking tour through A Coruna and were set free for lunch. Since we still had our bolsas, Liz, Lauren, Kaitlin and I sat in the main plaza, the plaza of Maria Pita, and ate our lunches. Maria Pita is like the Joan of Arc of Galicia; apparently, several hundred years ago, A Coruna ...

... pas de lignee pour voir St-Jacques. J'en ai profite pour lui faire une caresse et le remercier de m'avoir appele et de me donner la chance de commencer une nouvelle vie. A midi, j'ai assiste a la messe des pelerins. J'ai bien aime quand ils ont balance l'immense recipient a enscens d'un bord a l'autre de l'eglise. Le recipient passait pres des paroissiens, j'ai trouve ca impressionnant. Ca prenait beaucoup de personnes pour faire ce balancement, un ...

... reminds me of Taggart´s; it is beautiful. And Len told of a memorial near the beginning of the Camino, in France, of a 62-year-old Japanese man; he had hiked just 5K before he died of a heart attack. And Len even confided to us that he had no idea that he would survive the trip! It is a challenging journey. But a worthwhile one. As we enter Santiago it pours rain, more rain than we have had on the ...

... in a lettuce wrap. Every place offered something a little different. The best part was that the glass of wine, nosh included, would run from 1.20&euro; to 2.50&euro; depending upon the quality of the wine ordered, and this enabled me to try a bunch of different types of Spanish wines I would have to buy randomly by the bottle at home, including some really nice Rioja Reservas and Ribera Del Dueros. Dinner hour was around 10:00 or later and ...

... about 5.30 am, for a short sleep before the 6 am wake-up. Tues 17 May San Cristobal-Guayaquil-Madrid A lot of packing before breakfast and the 8 am departure of the baggage, then farewells and into the rubber ducky for the last time. The harbour is pretty busy with cruise ships letting off people for the new air departure point, local fishing boats, taxi boats, and a Navy patrol boat. All the boats at anchor not protected by barbed wire have a team of sea ...