Bill Ronan

Here I am entrenched and settled in Palais de Rei, and it's small mercy I can't find anything to complain about. Unless you count sore feet, tired legs, and missing the important people / person in my life. The walking covered about 23km today, and passed quickly. Out the door in the dark at 7.15am and following a small procession (or as I described it; a mass exodus) Two stops for essential refreshments and feet rests saw me arrive in Palais de Rei at 1.45pm and, as has been my habit, I selected a small Albergue on the way out of town (along the Camino route). Tonight has me in Casina di Marcello and only 14 beds. Tonight I will participate in a 'shared meal'. Only those who are sleeping will have the host Marcello delivering his famous Italian style family dinner (€10).
Palais de Rei, Palace of the King, is owed to the last Visigothic king to rule Spain. Witiza had a brief rein, from 700-709, and he was only 14 when he was anointed. The family ruled all of the Iberian peninsula from Toledo and it wasn't until 701 that Witiza came to Galicia, likely to Tui; his migration was prompted by both a Byzantine invasion and the spread of the plague from Constantinople (no no not all those pilgrims spreading their germs!). Witiza's reign was short lived but his namesake village here on the Camino remains. For the record (and accuracy) he was, in fact, a co-ruler with his father...but 'Palace of the Half King' lacks a certain attraction.
Well having showered, laundered, it is time for a snooze before dinner. With about seventy kilometres to go, there's a notable increase of the 'tourist pilgrim'. Minibuses and coaches "dump" tourists (minus rucksacks and walking boots) onto the Camino, sello's (stamps) are collected in "pristine" credential's and off they go towards Santiago, dust free and absent of any ache except the derrière from sitting too long on their arses!!
I firmly hold the view that everyone's Camino is unique to themselves. Some carry their packs, others have it transported ahead, but with 'day sacks' they walk the stages. Todays bus locusts have annoyed me. They are fakes and they did not deserve (or receive from me) the curtesy of the shared greeting Buen Camino. I passed them today with contempt.
Tomorrow is another day, and the Camino de Santiago is coming to its beautiful conclusion. Emotions are subdued and people are speaking in terms of the "end", but surely it's only the beginning. "When you go through inner obstacles, you are more YOU than who you started to be. YOU are more than you remember being." "The pilgrim abandons themselves to the breadth of the greater life that leads them beyond the farthest horizons, to an aim which is already present with them, though yet hidden from their sight."Leer más