What a Day!

After catching up with Gonzalo and settling in, I went for a walk at about 8 o’clock. You can walk anywhere anytime in santiago and feel completely safe. I met up with Patti for what was meant to be a quick drink but turned into dinner and then left her to her packing as she is going away for the weekend.

I passed out with exhaustion after all that travel but opened my eyes at 5.30 am fresh as a daisy and raring to go. Spain doesn’t wake up or begin the day till about 9 at the earliest so I quietly opened my suitcase to see what I had packed. It was full of surprises, with nothing matching, no co-ordinated “stories” to wear, and nothing warm. I’m not good at packing.

Gonzalo lives on the Camino, so even before sunrise, I could hear the click clack of walking poles as the pilgrims started to dribble into town….Mostly Spanish people , excitedly chatting and singing. I opened the window and watched the dawn, smelling the scents of Spain and remembering how exciting that first camino was. Around the corner, you catch your first sight of the cathedral and everyone gets so excited, quickening their pace towards the pilgrims mecca of the Santiago de Compostela.

Laying back down, I checked my emails and messages. Laura poked her head in and told me she was going to her last fitting for the wedding dress, so realising that I was hungry, I got dressed and went for a walk. The familiarity of this place really warms my soul. I wandered down to Costa Vella for breakfast ($6 for toast, butter, jam, coffee and cake)

Sitting in the garden, memories came flashing back of all the friends I’ve shared coffees and drinks with here over the years. I messaged Johnniewalker to see what he was doing and discovered he was in the main square waiting for his god daughter to arrive after walking the Portuguese camino, so I wandered down to meet him.

And…. There was Stephen, Leigh and Patricia as well, so it turned into another epic lunch in the private room at John’s favourite restaurant. Wine flowed, courses came out one after the other and once again, I sat there pinching myself. These people mean so much to me. How lucky I am to have these friends and these moments to cherish. I could barely move when it was time to go. I had eaten so much and they were kicking us out so they could close up. It was 6.30 by then, so we parted ways and I wandered back home. I won’t be wanting dinner.