Camino Ingles – day 4 Segueiro to Santiago

We had bananas and yoghurt in our room for breakfast, and cups of tea in the bar! A quick trip collecting bread and fruit fuel for the day, and an embarassing and failed attempt by me to explain (in spanish and sign language) that the reason we were refusing a carrier bag and risking grape and tomato contamination was that Kate has given up plastic for Lent, and we were crossing the Tambre and heading out of Segueiro.

Looking back over the bridge to Sigueiro

The Tambre looked to be in spate

Only 16 odd kilometers to Santiago!

The way marker took us up the hill past the local church – dedicated to St Andrew as is our home church, so I looked in (the first open church since A Coruna!) and admired two ladies who were fitting rods together in order to brush the cobwebs off the ceiling. I tried to convey my appreciation of their labours – it was probably as embarrassing as my attempts in the fruit shop, but Kate wasn’t near enough this time to complain. We smiled at each other, though.

Then up the hill, across the road and up more hilly track through woods and fields. It was a drizzly day today, with no sunny spells. There seemed to be a balance between the precipitation making us wet, and the open air drying us off, as we didn’t get very wet even without wet weather gear.   I got a bit carried away with close-up studies of plants today, which meant that often Kate strode on ahead and had to stop and wait for us.

I loved the raindrops on this little saxifrage (?)

After crossing the motorway through a tunnel and then the N550 we were walking along a grassy path when there was a cheery ‘Ola’ from behind – Loralei and Owen from Cork had caught us up at last!  We walked together for a while and took photos to record our coming together as pilgrims.

Loralei, Kate and Owen arranging a photo session

Five pilgrims on the Camino Ingles in early March 2009

The route seemed to weave around the N550 today, taking us past villages and farms.

The direct route!A cruceiro by the road

Throughout our camino we saw cabbages being planted and cropped, as well as just growing.

We climbed up what JW promised would be the last cardio-vascular workout of our camino, a cone-shaped hill which I had teased Owen we would be climbing, only to find that we did! On the top of the hill we took a final picture of each other  as we were planning to stop for lunch, and they wanted to press on ahead.

Nearly made it to Santiago

We sat in the shelter of a wall to eat our lunch.

Someone tried to hitch a lift into Santiago!

Although we were passing some scruffy looking factories  and scrap yards, there was one more woodland path where I was distracted by the flora:-

Lichen growing on dead branches on the leafy woodland floor

Look how beautiful these are close up!

It must be damp in this wood all the year round to sustain the moss and ferns growing on this live tree trunk.

Violet and moss

Does anyone know what these leaves are?

Just look at these darling narcissi growing wild in the woods!

After this there was quite a dreary patch through an industrial estate which led to the suburbs of Santiago. JW’s guide led us in OK, but our feet were tired now and it seemed like an awful long way.  Finally we were at the Pilgrim statue

Larger than life!

First sight of the cathedral

getting there

Down towards the archway into the Plaza del Obradoiro

Plaza Immaculada

The square in front of the cathedral was almost empty when we got there. All ther buildings, including the west front of the cathedral, seemed dark and unwelcoming. Peter and I hobbled down to the toilets, our feet now very tired and achy after walking on pavement for a long way. It seems I did not take a photo of the cathedral until next day. The only other pictures I took this day was in the ladies, where I tried to catch in the mirror an idea of how very weary I felt, but I don’t think it conveys that at all!

Well, here I am, in Santiago

We did go to give St James a hug before we went off to find somewhere to sleep! On the way we were hailed by Tim and Barry, recently arrived in Santiago after walking the Camino Portuguese. Tim told us about his acquired brain injury – and we told him that Kate starts work in two days’ time at the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust.

Owen and Loralie turned up at the Hostel Suso where we had settled into two rooms. We declined going out on the town with them that night and ate tapas downstairs insteadm before an early night.