We were glad to see the other side of Palas de Rais. Yesterday was long, cold and wet and the town was really not appealing in any way.

Again we headed out in the rain and the dark but it was 7.30 and it seemed to get lighter soon after we left the town. One tends to lose track of what day it is, what date it is and any sort of reference to anything other than today’s destination on the camino. It turns out that summer time had come to an end so we no longer had to walk in the dark until 9am!

Anyway we were only going a short day and I booked a cama in the Albergue where the lady from Atlanta was going to stay but they refused to reserve a cama Baja. Well there was no way I was climbing onto a top bunk and risking injury this close to the end – and nor was the Lady from Atlanta so we ended up booking a room each at a Pension in the old part of town. This was to be our last day walking together as I wanted to take my time as I didnt want to injure myself and I didnt need to be in Santiago until the 31 October – Halloween.

It was a nice day walking for a change – a little bit of bad weather but nothing like yesterday. We passed a church where a local man beckoned us in with the promise of stamp. He seemed like a nice fellow so we both donated a few coins as we left.

We then came across a very interesting looking coffee shop with a darn cute dog. We both decided to have a coffee and the service was great and the cake was impressive. A crowd of Belgian students passed by while we were drinking coffee and I almost opened my emergency vegemite but the toast was way too hard and it would have been a disappointment so I slipped it back in the top of my pack. I bought a piece of tarta santiago para lavar and put the box in my pack for later.

After that stop we did find it difficult to find a decent feed on the way and were both quite hungry when we eventually arrived on the outskirts of Melide. It was quite a long walk into town – nothing like Burgos or Leon but a little annoying none the less. We kept bumping into a church group from North Carolina who kept wanting to question us on our journey but we were exhausted and hungry and just wanted to escape!

When we finally arrived in Melide we were following a well dressed pilgrim with fancy shoes and I complemented him on his bueno Zapatos and he thanked me and smiled. I then noticed he carried oxygen and was not very well and asked if he was okay. “Smoking” he said as he pointed to one lung and then the other. We had a few words about smoking and I wished him Buen camino and headed on in front.

At the back of the town I heard my name called and Not Vincent and Francine from Taiwan ran out to say goodbye. They were heading on and it was not likely we would meet again. We had a photo and a hug and said goodbye.

We wove our way through the Sunday crowd of Spanish people dressed up for family lunch. It was so busy we found it difficult to see the camino arrows but eventually found the pension. For the first time we decided to head out for lunch before our shower as we were starving. The Pension manager recommended a restaurant a lado the church. First we had to find the church and then we had to decide exactly how far away beside the church would extend.

Anyway we landed on a restaurant with only Spanish people eating and had the best meal of the camino. A salad with fruit and nuts, zamboriñas in the shell, prawn risotto and desserts to die for. We were so happy I even snapped a photo with the Matre de who was thrilled to be part of our camino.

We went back to the Pension satisfied with a spectacular meal and had a siesta like the locals before heading out for a soup later. It wasn’t raining anymore but it was freezing so we headed back for an early night. I planned three more nights on the camino and was looking forward to an easy day on the morrow. 10 -15 kilometres at most. I had bought some new tape from a farmacia on the way through town and sadly my 10 year old small Australian scissors fell apart. I sat them aside and remembered all the airports they had sailed through and all the tape they had cut over the years. They had reached the end of the road and would stay in Melide forever.

As I was dozing off a procession of sorts passed outside my window with a drummer a few wind instruments and what appeared to be a mourning family. I have no idea what was going on but was woken from a light sleep as they passed by. A little eerie as the whole square had gone quiet hours ago. Strange things happen on the Camino sometimes.

I finally went back to sleep and had some rest in readiness for the morrow.

Buenas noches