Spain - one day from Santiago

Tomorrow, we will enter Santiago as Pilgrims who have completed the Camino, Santiago de  Compestela. I am happy it will be Sunday when we arrive. We have hiked through 70 kilometres of Spain (about 50 miles) and noticed some changes from Portugal.  More Cathedrals, more crosses along the Way, almost no road walks, fewer cobblestones, and perhaps better coffee. Continuing the posting as I have been doing, I will share a few annotated photos of our hiking time in Spain:

The cathedrals

The crosses

                                                        

     

                          

   

Hard to see but five here in one spot.

Some more vegetation - Fig tree

Vegetable used in every soup. Somewhat like our Kale.

Gathering the grapes. This man insisted we each have a bunch to eat!

Pictures On the trail.

Mine entrance

Corn storage crib

Name of a very sweet chapel we visited

Town across a river

 

The walk inside the town

Jean was taking a picture of Latona playing her imaginary guitar and "On the Road Again".

Now a special thing to share.  We were told by another Pilgrim that we could take an alternate route called the Variant Espiritual and travel a portion of the Camino by boat.  It would take us through a bay from Vilanova de Arousa, an estuary and then up the Ulla River to Padron.  We would be able to travel the water route used to bring the remains of St. James back to Spain for burial.  

In addition, we were able to see the mussel farming platforms that are numerous and belong to families of the area. This prevents large corporations from trying to usurp the business.

*****Here is a quote from our brochure. "In 44 AD the estuary of Arousa was crossed by the ship carrying the body of the apostle St. James. His remains were taken by his followers, who led by an angel and guided by a star arrived at the coast of Galicia and climbed the bed of the river Ulla until reaching the village of Padron."

We saw the historic sites as we traveled up the river toward Padron.

So tomorrow is the big day.  We finish the actual hiking into Santiago with about nine miles to complete our Pilgrimage.  I wish I could tell you all I have learned but I am personally thankful that this Walk is one of faith and forgiveness!