Portomarín

We have passed the <100km mark and here things are suddenly very different. The first thing we noticed, last night, was that many of the beds in the albergue had been reserved; apparently by people who didn't intend to use them. They eventually showed up in a car at 23:30. Then this morning the camino was full of new walkers. Bunches. They ran by us. We have thought of this before as a parade. Pilgrims have never been long out of sight. But today there were large groups of people who had happened to find their way together. Groups of >30!

We got to Portomarín early, though of course tired after having walked about 20 km, that's about as much as we can do, and we weren't sure if we wanted to go the next 8 km or not. The best would have been to have rested, visited the church, San Nicolas, perhaps have eaten something, and then made the decision. But we were told this albergue was almost full. So, we decided to stay.

Knowing that if you finish the final 100 km on foot they give you a "Compostella"; sort of a certificate of completion. We expected more people in the last 100 km. But never knew!. This whole town is full up!

And this albergue is huge.


130 beds...





an order of magnitude greater than some we've seen and look at this kitchen...


coffee maker for the morning...


even this...


free beer! Not really. We're supposed to pay for it. But who's counting.

And Richard, you were right. There are groups here. Big ones - a new thing to us. There was a celebration in the plaza in front of the church this evening. Folk music and dancing; that sort of thing. As we were waiting for it to start I noticed this abuela con cacha elderly woman sitting all alone and struck up a conversation with her about the changes caused by the increased traffic on the camino. She seemed to be enjoying it. So, though it may be changing the changes will be accepted and they won't be all for the worse.