Day 19 (14 April) — Glide Path To The End — 16 Miles

Breakfast started at Villajardin at 7:00. With all the Caminoites on the road, I was sitting on a bench next to the front door of the dining room at 6:45. When the doors open, forty serious people entered en masse. I quickly put my rain jacket on a chair; I was the first to the coffee maker.

I shared my table with two pilgrims from Malaysia. They are part of a different group from that led by Mr. Hoo. Grace Foo works for Emerson Electric and has a son. Mandy Chai recently retired (mandatory in Malaysia at 60) and is a grandmother of four. This is their first Camino and they started from Sarria. I told them that if they had a good experience on this Camino, they needed to return and start at an earlier point. Who knows but the seed was planted.

I also saw Elizabeth from London whose photo I didn’t take last night. I did not forget this time. What a smile.

The pilgrims at our hotel had their baggages ready for transport by 8:00. They were a very eager bunch to get started. You can see lines of pilgrims on the approach to the bridge over the Minho.

My general impression is that although the numbers must be in the thousands, I did not feel the pressure of being swept along. People seemed less feverish than the day before. I saw fewer children and dogs though we did encounter local dogs who seem to say — I own this part of the Camino.

Although members of the pack were in different places during the night and started at different times, we all came together for, of course, our mid-morning cerveza. It was clear that Amanda fit right in.

The rest of the day was spent speed walking while the going was good — no rain. We had high winds and the wind chill made it feel really cold. I am sure all of us were relieved to have checked into our respective domiciles without being drenched.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. My last day on this Camino.