We were really glad to have stayed the night where we did. If we’d stopped in Padrón, hiking for the day would have ended before noon. We were able to get about 10 km further and shorten this day’s hike to 15 km.
The hostel was also lovely. It had recently gone through an onsite manager change. The new manager, Dario, had been working construction in Norway for five years and wanted a lifestyle change. This hostel seemed like the perfect arrangement. He’s already made improvements and reintroduced a substantial menu to the offerings.
We headed out relatively early and the way was very pleasant, much of it shaded.
We arrived in Santiago before 11 and it took a bit more time to make it to the cathedral. This is the first time I’ve come in from the Portuguese route. Although it was a bit grey and lifeless when we first entered the Santiago outskirts – it was so much nicer than from the Camino Frances route, which includes miles of warehouses, industrial buildings, and car repair places before it even starts to turn residential and then historical.
We saw some friends in the square upon arrival and exchanged congratulations. Then we headed off to the pilgrim office for the quick processing of our Compostellas.
Then a stop into two different post offices to pick up our parcel. Yes, more on that later.
Then checked into San Martin Pinario Monastery for two nights. Best deal going in downtown Santiago. €30 per private room, per night, and it comes with a full breakfast. The rooms are simple, very basic, but also include private bathrooms. We headed down for their three course lunch – also a bargain.
So, the parcel. The one that took two trips to the post office in Porto to ship. You didn’t actually think the pickup would be easy, did you? I did. But apparently the Portuguese service isn’t compatible with the Spanish service when it comes to parcels. I was given an address on the outskirts of town to go to find my parcel. After checking in at the monastery I asked for a cab to be called. Only after the cab was on its way did I see on the instructions that they closed for siesta. So I walked out and told the cab driver I didn’t need a lift. He was upset and asked for €5 for the service call. This was no time to mess over a hard-working cab driver – particularly if one believes in karma. So I gladly paid him, apologized, and he headed out. After siesta I went back to the post office to try to get clarification from a clerk who spoke English. She confirmed that my parcel was not in their system and apologized. I thanked her for checking and told her it wasn’t her fault. Apparently she doesn’t hear that often enough. When I asked where I should go to get a cab, she personally walked me to the security guard desk for assistance. The guard then left her station to walk me two blocks away to personally put me in a cab. They couldn’t have been any nicer. The cab driver got me to the CTT hub in a warehouse district on the edge of town and dropped me. I had no idea how long it would be so I didn’t ask him to wait. It was me and a single CTT clerk. He took the parcel information and disappeared for a few minutes – my blue parcel appeared around the corner!! I’ve never been so happy to see a parcel!!! Mission accomplished, I needed to get back to the monastery. The clerk told me there were busses at the end of the street. When I got there I realized I didn’t know where I was, which of the 15+ buses I needed, what the city buses would look like (as there were also tour buses in the area.). So I walked into a car rental office nearby and the guy graciously called me another cab. So grateful that adventure ended well.
Back just in time … as Susie and I had a date with St Francis. Apparently there is a second certificate one can get from the church of St Francis around the corner. It’s unadvertised and, even in the church, it’s unmarked. We found the correct door and a lovely man gave us our second certificates.
We followed up this adventure with the cure-all (ice cream cones). Then went back to the monastery to plan our day for tomorrow. The front desk staff had a lull and were more than happy to help us.
A little shopping in the artisan district – and an early night.
This week’s totals (from my phone):
Flights climbed: 115
Steps: 220,733
Miles: 91.2
For the grand total of our Camino Portuguese and the current donation totals, please go to the charity:water donation site:
https://www.charitywater.org/marilyn-peterson/marilyn-s-camino-for-water-2025
Note: the campaign remains open until September 15th. Plenty of time to add to the total or to forward this to someone who might be interested in doing so. Many thanks for your prayers, support, and consideration.
More later…