Sunday 9th June - Santiago

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I'm sitting in the foyer of the Rosarosae Hotel in Santiago de Compostela, waiting for all of our group to get together to say goodbye. It's been an incredible time - physically challenging but emotionally and spiritually rewarding. The people that I have met - both in the group and the locals - have been amazing.

We arrived in Santiago on Friday afternoon and it started to rain just as we entered the city. This was the first rain we had had over the nine days since leaving Bilbao. After a quick shower and change of clothes, we had coffee and pastries in the hotel's breakfast room, while we waited for our guide to arrive for a tour of the city. Armed with our rain jackets and umbrellas, we walked from the hotel to the cathedral, with Maria, our guide, pointing out important historical features and shopping hints along the way. Maria also entertained us with stories of her childhood, growing up in Santiago and coping with the damp air. After the tour had finished we had some free time - a small group of us found a bar that served hot chocolate - and then we had dinner in the Centro Restaurant. The best Galician broth we had had - a soup of potato and cabbage! Tastes better than it sounds! We finished the night with a drink in a bar - I had the local 'herbal' grappa! It made getting back to the hotel in the rain quite fun! A bit of a sing song on the way!

Saturday was a free day, but most of us took advantage of a coach trip to Cape Finisterre, in Medieval times considered to be the 'end of the world'. On the beach we collected shells - it is the traditional way to mark the end of 'your camino' and then had lunch, before visiting the lighthouse where we burned a piece of clothing - another tradition. Most of us 'cheated' by just burning the label of a piece of clothing! On the return journey to Santiago, we stopped in a small village to see a weir and watermill, and to have coffee at a bar! Dinner was followed by a visit to a celtic bar - there is a strong celtic influence in this area of Spain. The music is vey similar to that of Ireland. No grappa - a Bailey's instead!

Our last day was quite different to the rest - some took the chance to have a sleep in while others went to mass in the cathedral! But by noon we were all assembled as the taxi was arriving to take the group that was flying back to England to the airport. Email addresses and postal addresses have been exchanged - promises to visit have been made. Some tears were shed. Despite the age range (youngest 33, eldest 77), the group had meshed well. I have invitations to visit Boris, our leader, in France; Anne in England and Kathy in Tasmania!

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