Hike Day 11 - Pedron to A Picorana

Today's post is by Dale:

To avoid a long 16-mile final day into Santiago, I planned two shorter days instead. Finding accommodations often determines the day's distance, and after three consecutive 12-13 mile days, today’s 6-mile walk was a welcome change.

Last night, we stayed in a lovely three-bedroom apartment and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast this morning. We also had time to explore the old town of Padrón, which was absolutely charming. We visited a beautiful botanical garden, strolled through a riverfront park, and took in a breathtaking view of the city from a hilltop convent.

About two-thirds of our days have been rainy, but with our ponchos covering our packs, it hasn’t been too bad. The ladies joke that I don’t have to worry about my hair getting wet. As we walk in the rain, I sometimes can’t tell if the sound is coming from babbling streams or whimpers from the ladies—but, truthfully, the rain has only added to the adventure. No one is overly bothered by it. The countryside is lush, and the rain helped to extinguish the wildfires that could have made our hike difficult.

Since we got a late start, we didn’t see many of our usual Camino friends today, but we did meet some new ones. The highlight was meeting a pair of identical twins from Texas, who dressed alike and were simply delightful. We also encountered a bagpipe player..

We checked into our accommodations early and later had dinner at a "Mexican" restaurant, which, amusingly, didn’t serve Mexican food. But the “Menu del Día” of Spanish dishes turned out to be fantastic.

Tomorrow, we plan to start early and arrive in Santiago de Compostela with enough time for those interested to get their certificate for hiking at least 100 km. In fact, we’ve hiked closer to 200 km!Read more