Winding down, the second last day of my pilgrimage. Only 10 km to walk, no point in rushing off in the dark and getting lost – again. Walking with Gabriella again today, I am determined to get her to Santiago tomorrow. We set off from the Albergue in Padron in the dark at 8am, found an open restaurant in the street across the bridge, stopped for a coffee.
Many pilgrims on the road today. We met a woman from Edmonton, a couple from British Columbia. Before today, I had only met one couple from Canada.
A km out of Padron, we walked past the ancient church of Santa Maria de Iria at Iria Flavia, The medieval church was ransacked by Almanzor in 997. It was restored, extended and modified several times over many centuries according to the ebb and flow of styles in religious architecture.
Faramello
By 10:30, we were in Faramello. We found a cafe bar and had an early lunch of omelette pie, it looked weird but tasted really good. For the first time in many days, there was no rush. We took a leisurely stroll out of the village and found the Albergue Teo, a municipal Albergue on a hill a few meters above the footpath leading to Santiago.
We put our packs in the line behind those of two Sardinian women and waited for the Albergue manager to arrive. From our perch on the hillside we could see a constant stream of pilgrims heading for Santiago 12 km away. It was tempting to press on, but I had promised Gabriella that I would get her to the end. She could see the spot where her leg problem had stopped her walking the previous year and was nervous that it would happen again. Good for her to spend the afternoon winding down.
The thought of trying to find a bed in a hostel late in the day in the bigger city of Santiago with hundreds of other pilgrims arriving was enough to make me give up that idea. Much better to be winding down and having an easy day.
Albergue Teo
The manager arrived at 2pm and we were able to put our packs on our beds. The manager had an interesting story. A woman in her 30s, she had lived in Madrid for most of her life, worked in the corporate world and lived a fairly normal life in that city. Frustrated by city living, she had taken a holiday the previous year. She had travelled through the Galicia region. found herself in the small village of Faramello and liked it.
Albergue Teo needed a manager, she got the job and moved. She loved the simple country lifestyle, the job only took a few hours a day in the afternoon and less time in winter. She enjoyed meeting pilgrims from all over the world. It was nice to see someone happy to have exchanged the high salary and high stress of the city for a modest income, plenty of free time, country living and little stress.
Albergue Teo – Faramello 
Gabriella & Sardinians 
Hostel cat
Later in the afternoon, more pilgrims began arriving and by early evening, the Albergue was full. It was another confirmation that planning our overnight stops in between the villages recommended in the guide book had been a good idea.
Pilgrims from many European countries, including a young Ukrainian couple we had met previously, a Dutchman and a French woman who, like me was getting over a cold. We met Muna, a young Palestinian woman who was walking with Bas, a young Dutchman living in Germany. The two Sardinian women had started cooking spaghetti and invited all of us to share the meal.
The multi-language conversation in the kitchen had got to a level of volume and intensity as that of parents at a kid’s soccer match. It was a cacophony. I had already planned to go up the road to the restaurant Jama which had been recommended.
Gabriella was involved in preparing the communal meal so I walked up the hill to the restaurant where I shared a table with Allesandro, an English speaking, Italian fireman aged about 60. An enjoyable meal of pork chunks in garlic, salad home made bread, and as usual, a glass of red wine.
I walked back in the dark on a narrow road with no sidewalks, ready to leap into the bushes to avoid speeding cars.
Leaking Bladder
Not mine, my pack’s. I had filled the water bladder in my backpack with fresh water before going for supper. I had propped the pack against my bunk ready for an early start the next morning. As had happened back in Tui, I had put the pack on top of the valve at the end of the drinking tube. Most of the water had leaked out soaking my sleeveless jacket tied to the bottom of the pack and leaving a puddle on the floor. After putting an unbudgeted 2 euro in the coin-operated drier, the jacket soon dried.
The Albergue cost 6 euro, but at 13.80 euro I had overspent on supper. Including 2 coffees, a pie in the morning and the drier, my total expenses for the day came to 26 euro. Not bad.
We had walked 12.3 km on the route in 2 hours and 50 minutes.
Earlier in the day I had felt minor pains from an old horse accident injury to my right foot and in a knee damaged from too much running. However, the plantar fascia and shoulder that had been a minor irritant at times were quiet and I had no doubt that I would be in good shape for the final 14 km to Santiago the next day.
As I lay in my bed, the earlier, raucous conversation in the kitchen had moved to the large table in the eating area and was ebbing and flowing up the stairs. There was an air of anticipation that our journeys would end tomorrow. Excitement that we would reach our objective, achieve our goals and clutch our credencials in our hands as proof that we had done our Caminos.
For me, it was tinged with regret that after tomorrow, this journey would be over. A real sense of winding down. After a week with my brother in England, it would be back to normality. Not that my normal life was bad, just normal.
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