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Published: September 29th 2016
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View from my bedroom window that morning Day 35 – September 27, 2016 - Padron (Dodro), Spain to Santiago de Compostela, Spain – 16.75 Miles
Hip Hip Hooray!!!! It’s official – we made it to the cathedral in Santiago shortly after 5 pm which completes our Portugues El Camino!! However, after a couple days of relaxation in Santiago we will put our boots back on to finish the walk to the sea at Finisterre which will takes us four more days.
Our final day of walking the Portugues El Camino started with us backtracking to cross over the medieval bridge and then past the church so we could make our way through the streets of the old quarters of Padron. Today we are joined by many pilgrims who are also making their way to Santiago.
After passing by the Colegiate church of Santa Maria de Iria, we cross over the railway line and now walk alongside the busy N-550. It’s not long before we leave the very noisy/busy N-550 and return to a quiet road that has us winding our way through several small hamlets and over a stream.
We now come to some railroad tracks that we walk alongside for a short distance
before we return to walking alongside the N-550. As we are walking we come to the enormous Baroque sanctuary where we ventured inside to not only view the sanctuary but to also get a stamp for our passport. Coming out of the sanctuary, we crossed the street to the restaurant called Casa Eduardo where we stopped for a break and where I enjoyed a Coca Cola zero and a very tasty churro.
Upon leaving Casa Eduardo, we again cross over the N-550. We follow the yellow arrows for the rest of the morning plus the first half of the afternoon which has us alternating between country roads, busy/noisy N-550 and peaceful pine woods and takes us through several small villages/hamlets.
We finally come to Restaurante Casa Rural Parada de Francos where we stop for our lunch break. After lunch we continue walking through the pine woods and eventually cross over a bridge taking us through another small village. It’s not long before we reach a marker that says we only have 9.802 kilometers left before we reach the cathedral in Santiago. As you can see from the picture we are all were very excited that we have so
few kilometers to go but unfortunately the marker was totally incorrect.
We continue walking through the pine/eucalyptus trees where we reach the high point of the day. As we start downwards, we come to a cantina bar stop where we stop for a rest break. After leaving the cantina bar stop we pass by some very unique female scarecrows.
Further down the road we finally get our first glimpse of the cathedral. As I was standing there, the most amazing thing happened. Two white butterflies, one on each side of me, flew right in front me and came together just as I as was about ready to snap a picture of the cathedral. I know in my heart it was a sign from my dad and son saying “we have been with you the whole way on this journey and we now deliver you safely to Santiago!”
From this point we take the new route to Santiago which is much quieter than the old route. As we make our way into the plaza around the cathedral we are joined by many other pilgrims. What a happy and amazing feeling to finally reach the cathedral!!!
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