The Camino Frances

The Camino Frances

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Last day in Santiago

Saturday Oct 13 in Santiago

I´m doing the draft of today´s post in the Santiago Public Library.  I feel so at home here, even though the staff doesn´t speak Spanish. And it is only a few blocks from the albergue. Yesterday I pared down my backpack: let´s hope it is under the regulation 10 Kilos for Easyjet. I made a list of the food I had on hand, so that none of the weight will be made up of food. So this morning, in the kitchen of the albergue, before 9 am when I had to be out of the bedroom, I had yogurt and oats and some of Father Pius´s elderberry jelly. I gave the rest  of the jelly to Bill, an American who appeared in the kitchen while I was eating. He had stayed in Rabanal when I was working there, and was still in Santiago because he walked to Finnesterre and came down with a cold, so he is holed up here trying to get better. Though this is a very noisy albergue. There is no curfew, so my roommates can come in at any hour. And one floor below, under my window, is a bar, and there was a lot of celebrating last night, until the middle of the night.

After breakfast I  walked to the daily market. It was huge! It reminded me of the St. Lawrence Saturday morning market, but instead of tables, the local vendors set up on the ground or on stone benches. And the meat and fish and seafood sections were wide open, not behind glass, though they were in the building. There were also some vendors selling used clothes. Yesterday I refound a vintage clothing place that I had seen in 2007. But I have no weight allowance left for clothes, unless I wear another layer. I don´t think they will weigh me, so I will fill my many pockets with stuff, and wear my raincoat over my black jacket in hopes of making the 10 kilo cutoff.

Sitting here, I can imagine that I am home in Pape library in Toronto. There are so many things I miss about home. My level of appreciation and gratitude should definitely improve when I return. Cooking my own food is high on my list, but on the top are family and friends. Meanwhile, I am here, with plans to visit another museum and the Cathedral, eat the cheese and crackers from my stash, post this later at the albergue, and catch a bus to the airport. Next report should be from Switzerland!

Darlene, the intrepid traveller

1 comment:

  1. Good luck finding an albergi in Switzerland for the equivalent of 3 or 4 euros. You can buy a yogurt for that price! By the way, I find the yogurts there the best that I have ever had. I love Switzerland.

    Haben Sie eine gute Reise or, if you are going to the French part Bon voyage. However, siempre buen camino

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