May 21 - there’s more!

Day C + 1 (Camino plus One)

What’s next?

First we had to get back to Santiago. After a leisurely breakfast, we gathered our belongings and headed for the bus stop (10 feet away). There were already a lot of people waiting. That’s okay. We have plenty of time.

The first bus to arrive was headed to Muxia, another Camino town. Everyone got their hopes up, then found out it wasn’t going to Santiago. At least some people got on the bus, which thinned the crowd slightly.

Then the Santiago bus came. Wow, all these formerly polite pilgrims suddenly became a mob, elbowing each other to get to the front of the line to get on the bus. I was nearly crushed, and was carried forward on the wave. So I got tickets while Rachel loaded our backpacks.

And everyone got a seat. In fact I think there was only one seat left over. As a consequence, we didn’t have to take the milk run through all the towns, so we went straight back to Santiago and got there in less than 90 minutes instead of 3 hours.

Now what to do with five hours until our next bus? We had seen a large shopping mall when we were walking in to Santiago, and it wasn’t far from the bus station, so we went there. Rather strange to be surrounded by modern stores like H&M, Skechers, and the Body Shop. And of course we had backpacks with us, so we had to take turns walking around while one stayed with the bags. (It is really nice to have someone with you on the Camino, for many reasons).

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures today! So this is a photo of the Botafumeiro. We did not attend mass, so didn't see it in action. We did a tour of the cathedral on May 19, when this was taken

Food court here is a bit different than malls at home, more like restaurants in the mall. There is a Burger King, other places not like North America. So we ate at Burger King. Tastes like home.

There is also a large Carrefour store at the mall, Rachel went in for bus snacks. Better than the vending machine at the bus station.

It was a short walk back to the bus station, and we still had some time to wait, we just sat and watched buses go on and out.

So, what’s next? I week in Porto, Portugal. My husband Greg is meeting us there, so it will be a family vacation of sorts, time to switch gears, rest up, and reconnect as we explore a new city. And sleep more than one night in the same bed. That will be different. Charmaine is also joining us there. She got ahead of us about 3 weeks ago (but only completed the Camino a day before we did), it will be fun to exchange stories.