Padrón to Santiago!

It was a bit confusing this morning, to find our way back to the Camino. But NO RAIN! So no rain gear! Free at last — and dry!

We made two stops, first for cafe con lèche and later for a ham & cheese bocadillo. We stopped for an emotional photo op at the 10k obelisk, marking that we two met 30 years ago at a 10k race (which we were power walking). When we arrived in Santiago, just around the corner from the Cathedral, we heard someone shout, “Linda!” We looked around and saw the first friends we had made on day one of the Camino, Aisling and Callum from Cork, Ireland. They said they had been hoping to see “the girls” before they left, and were watching for us in the crowd streaming by. After completing our journey standing in front of the cathedral of St. James (and a bit overcome with emotion), we laughed with them for almost 2 hours! We saved our visit to inside the Cathedral for tomorrow, when we will have all morning free.

We met up with some other pilgrim-friends (Jason, Bill, and his friend Marco) for a last dinner together, and shared a plateful of the famous Padrón peppers (which weren’t available at our Padrón hotel dinner). “Most pimiento de padrons are as about as mild as your typical bell peppers, which have zero heat on the Scoville Scale. However, about 1 in every 10 peppers will give you a surprising jolt of heat. It's a bit like playing Russian Roulette with your tongue.” No one at our table appeared to get jolted!Read more