Day 44: Bandeira to Outeiro

Today was another lovely day. It was very chilly this morning but sunny. I’ve been wearing the beautiful fleece my nephew Dan gave me for Christmas. Not only is it an awesome color, but it’s been just the right weight with perfect pockets and no extra fru fru, (Thanks again Dan!).

We continued our walk through the Galician countryside. Today we walked through several eucalyptus forests. This tree is grown commercially throughout the coastal areas of Galicia. It’s a very interesting tree. The leaves on young eucalyptus look completely different from mature trees. The bark on the variety here in Spain is long and stringy and frequently hangs off the trees. They can grow incredibly tall and straight.

We walked most of the day with a French woman who had come from Seville on the Via de la Plata ( our route — the Camino de Invierno, merges with one of the two making Via de la Plata routes. She walked through incredible heat — some days as high as 43C (more than 109 F). She had to start at 5 am and end her walking day before noon. She said the only thing that made it possible was the wind.

Tom ad Christián walking

Walking into a deep glade of oak and eucalyptus

We never get enough of the Galician mist

Bright, beautiful gardens

It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is our last walking day. I am looking forward to walking into Santiago — it is a feeling like no other. Santiago is a pilgrim’s city. There is something truly special about arriving there as a pilgrim.

I suspect I will cry off and on the whole way there tomorrow. I feel like we have learned more about the discipline of pilgrimage this time than we ever have before. We had days when we doubted whether we would arrive — when the doctor in the emergency room in Burgos told Tom, in broken English “no recommend Santiago”, or when we both tested positive for COVID, or when we were both so tired we were sleeping 10 hours a day! We have also had lots of little maladies along the way more typical of a Camino. But on top of the big things, they threatened to stop our progress. So I am thankful, and I think I have learned a bit about perseverance, discipline, resiliency and love. The last because this is a Camino in which Tom and I have really had to rely on each other’s love and support.

So, tomorrow Santiago! We plan to attend mass at 7 and on Tuesday we will attend the English language mass in a chapel in the cathedral where we will leave the prayers we have been carrying with us.