We eventually got up and packed our bags. I walked out to the albergue's lobby and looked at the rain out the window. It was coming down pretty hard. I hadn't seen it rain this hard since the second day on the Aragones. I grabbed my pack and we headed to the bar across the way to get some breakfast and to give the weather another chance to clear up. We talked with some other pilgrims and ate our croissants. It didn't let up much at all.
We finally resigned ourselves to the fact that it wasn't going to slow down and we headed out. The walk was a a wet one. We stopped in a bar for something to drink and just to dry off a bit. We saw Mk, the 91 year old hiker, come in. We saw a lot of people trying to get out of the rain.
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Iconic marker just outside Santiago de Compostela. |
We stopped in another restaurant/bar at Monte de Gozo. I tried my best to dry off as we had something to drink and ate a small snack. I went through quite a few napkins trying to dry off my hands and arms. I finally gave up. I would just have to stay wet.
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The last of a new set of numbered markers we saw along the Camino.
Number 1 was at Col de Somport on the Aragones.
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My foot on the marker near the cathedral In Santiago de Compostela. |
By the time I got back I was tired and worn out from the frustration I felt. I gave half of the newspaper to Gv and I took the rest and stuffed it in my shoes and crashed the rest of the afternoon. I had everything hanging around trying to dry but the damp rainy weather prevented a lot of clothes from drying. I felt damp.
We finally decided we needed to get out and so we went to the pilgrim's office. We ran into a lot of pilgrim's we'd met on and off the past 39 days including the Korean couple. We were hoping to wait to get our Compostela certificates until we returned from Fisterra. One reason we wanted to delay getting the Compostela is that they announce who arrived (only their nationality and starting point) before each pilgrim's mass in the cathedral. Since we were the only ones we knew who started in Oloron - Ste Marie it would be like being called out personally. We were told that we could only delay getting them if we walked from Fisterra to Santiago de Compostela. Since we were planning to take a bus back that would not work so we picked up our Compostelas. Unfortunately we were leaving for Fisterra the next day and we would miss hearing our shout out.
I don't remember much about where we ate the rest of the day. It was a bit of a rainy, drippy blur. We did stop in one place where they serve the best ice cream and desserts. I had a burger I think and some awesome dulce de leche and chocolate ice cream. I don't remember the evening meal at all so it must have been good ... I would have remembered if it were bad.
Most of the people we'd met were stopping in Santiago de Compostela, their Caminos finished. We ran into Vn. He was continuing on and we said that we would look out for him on the way to Fisterra.
I don't remember sleeping very well that night. It had rained all day and it was still raining as a laid in bed. My mood had been really down the last time I had been walking in the rain on the meseta. My mood now, after a long rainy day, was not that bad. I felt pretty good once I got over the hassle of finding a newspaper. I didn't know if my good mood would last though if the weather continued to be so wet. It was still raining as I finally drifted off to sleep.
I didn't take very many pictures this day. I've posted some pictures of me in front of the Cathedral on Facebook. The rest can be found in my 2013 Camino de Santiago Google Photos album.
Total Distance on Day 39: 20 km ( 12.46 Miles) Total Distance Walked: 901 km (559.86 Miles) |
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Approximate Track of the day's hike*.
[Click on map for a larger version]
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