Estrada, A

We left quite early 0645 in order to leave our bags at the bar Ma. Jose, and stayed for an excellent breakfast, and then set off together.

For the first time on my camino, I walked in my shorts, the weather could not have been better, it was cloudy with sunny spells and a nice breeze and the path was a mixture of tarmac and country paths. On the final stretch of the camino you find yourself walking through a lot of small towns and so there is less need to carry a lot of water etc. and there are more opportunities for refreshments. We stopped at least twice for coffee, and in one café I saw an amazing looking cheesecake, and it made me think of Mirjam who loves cheesecake, but they didn't sell it in slices , just the whole cheesecake, which was far too big even for the four of us!

We found another café that was open and sat for about 30 minutes chatting. Kathleen saw a lovely yellow outfit that she thought might be good for us to all wear for when we arrived in Santiago. Apparently that is a thing, and you will see groups arriving all day wearing the same t-shirt or hat or carrying the same flag etc. Sadly, I don't think it came in my size.

Meg and I arrived at the albergue about 1300, with Kathleen and Anita arriving shortly thereafter having walked right past the 10-foot high sign saying 'Casa Leiras Albergue'.

The albergue was run by an delightful and fascinating couple, Andrea and his wife Cristina, he was Italian and she was Spanish, they were both really engaging and interesting to talk to, both of them were wonderful storytellers and conversationalists. We chatted for a while about how they came to own, renovate and run the albergue and to be honest, their ethos of life and how to live it was very appealing. what I loved was that they were living the life they loved, the life they had chosen for themselves. If you like chess then this is the albergue for you as Andrea was a mad keen chess player.

The albergue was absolutely the best we had stayed in so far. It was spotlessly clean, the beds were well spaced apart and the toilets and showers were outstanding. Rather than have to sit around serving us we were told to help ourselves from the bar and write up our own tab. We all agreed to have dinner there, in part because there was nowhere else to go, but also because we guessed, correctly, that the food would be fabulous, which it was. I was so glad we had decided to stay there, it's a very small place with no facilities other than the albergue, but it was one of the most pleasant days I had on the camino.

Mirjam arrived in Santiago today and sent us some photographs of the cathedral, apparently, when she went to get her Compostela, the staff were very excited because she had walked from Sevilla. I was so happy for her, our hearts were bursting with pride and joy, I was just sorry I had not been there to share it with her. We also got word from Anne that she was slowing down a bit because she was finding the humid weather a bit difficult, so she would now arrive in Santiago on Monday. We decided that we would all go the the cathedral square to meet her, when she arrived.

So, after a very wonderful day, we went to bed content and at peace.Read more