To the coast, please!

Getting back on the Camino to Finisterre today felt really good; it was strange not to be out in nature for two days. I'm finding that I feel more at ease in the rural villiages than the big cities, too. Probably because it's less likely I'll get lost, ha!

The 22km (14.3 mile) stretch I walked today was absolutely gorgeous, particularly as I climbed the hill out of Santiago toward the forest. When I turned and looked back, the entire city was sillouetted against the sunny sky, the massive spires from the cathedral crowning it all. It was a fairly epic goodbye to all of the friends I left behind in Santiago. Another gorgeous section was walking through a town called Burguieros that had a magnificent bridge crossing the Tambre river. Pilgrims were flocking down to the water to swim in the section just before the river began cascading as a waterfall. Quite serene.

When I arrived at my destination today, I was ridiculously hungry because I hadn't stopped for lunch, opting to munch on an apple and some almonds I had in my pack and power on. As luck would have it, I discovered today is some sort of holiday and all of the grocery stores are closed...lovely. The cherry on top: I went to several bars and restaurants to find some chow, but none of their kitchens opened for food preparation until 8:00pm. I still can't quite adjust to the different timetable for meals in this country, even after three weeks!

Despite my tardy departure from Santiago at 9:30 this morning, I was the second peregrino to roll into the albergue today at 3:00pm. As I write this at 10:00pm, there are still people showing up, which is amazing to me. Even though only 5% of pilgrims continue on to Finisterre, securing lodging can be tricky because there are fewer albergues and the ones that exist are so much further apart. I hear it's quite competitive to find a bed in the next town, so I'm going to leave early tomorrow morning and hope for the best!

I guess I never really described what a pilgrim albergue is like, did I? Picture a sleeping porch at a fraternity: a large room with an obscene number of bunk beds, but B.Y.O. sleeping bag. These areas are almost always co-ed, and usually first come, first pick. I prefer this system...when they assign beds I am always relegated to the top bunk since I am young and "graceful". Please, there is no graceful way to climb into a bunk bed, and getting down is always precarious. These structures are almost always covered in people's wet clothing in the hopes that it will be dry by morning. At night the room is filled with a symphony of snores, dream-induced babbling, and nighttime flatulence--earplugs are essential. Bathrooms are usually seperated by gender, although in some of the older, lower-end albergues they aren't. If you're lucky, there will be three showers and three toilets per 40 people. I guess the fact that it's so much like college makes it do-able for me...plus the 10€ or less price tag is quite attractive. It's one hell of a lifestyle, though!

I realized today that I have 4 days to kill after I meet up in Santiago with some friends from Quebec that I made while travelling in Morocco. Upon having this epiphany, I made the spur of the moment decision to book a hostel in for two nights in A Coruna, a coastal town in the region of Spain I'm currently in that has several sandy beaches. It sounded too good to pass up, and I can get a train or bus there for pretty cheap. Plus, my tan lines from all this hiking are really horrendous and must be fixed...but my body is in much better bikini shape! :)

I hoping to make it to the coast in time for the World Cup final on Sunday...that would be a cool place to watch the game. The question is can I put in 65 kilometers in two days...?

Abrazos,
Kelsey