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Neil Armstrong's Travels
Deaney did his utmost to waken Bruma the morning of our departure nevermind our fellow Pilgrims! What he needed in those plastic bags escapes me still! We tiptoed outdoors at 7.00am into complete darkness and walked a few hundred yards away to get suited and booted. It was very misty and thankfully I had a torch to hand which would guide our way...and keep lookout for Wolves and Bears!!!
We dispatched the Santiago Cake quickly savouring all the flavour of this nutty delight, not knowing for sure when we might eat again...24 kilometres to Siguiero, lets go!!
It was now that we began to recount the memories and mental images we had experienced so far, both of us knowing that despite a long long day ahead, the end of our trip was beginning to reel us both in. We shared a laugh and a giggle - Deany on the Bongo Drums on the First night - hmm, that might need to be explained!!! Our day spent with Paul now more precious and the evening past spent with Benino and Jean-Pierre one of the real highlights!
You will notice that the photography today was limited...tiredness becoming more and more evident and it was a real kick in the teeth when the fist main town we reached after three hours walking was effectively a ghost town...save the noise of every dog that barked 'Buen Camino' violently as we passed. Thankfully Craig had a stick which offered some comfort but was never actually required. Some of the dogs were the size of horses anyway so Deaney's twig really wouldn't have done much...but it made us feel better and dragged us up many hills...(many, many, many hills!!!)
We soldiered on and I carefully picked my way along the grassy verges of the pathways trying in vain to save the ensuing blister on my right foot. I was using a GPS programme on my phone called 'Endomondo' which tracked distance, speed and altitude along the way...we were banging out kilometres at just over 11mins and we walked like 'Machines' (private joke about one of Deany's mates from Uni) as we counted down the kilometres. Maybe Jean-Pierre had been right the evening before but today we felt great, especially as the road stretched straight out in front of us...in hindsight we probably should have gone a bit easier with a full Marathon to walk today, up and down hills and with 8-9 kilos on board!!! But you couldn't talk to us and soon, supported by the Greatest Hits of 'The Pogues' blaring from me, Craig and supported by my Samsung Galaxy, we strode our way into Siguiero...and fell over at Cafe Mesa for around two o'clock...a bit behind Beninos target but we did leave late and got a bit lost once or twice.
Lunch again went down a treat with change from 20 Euros for the two of us and at 3.45pm we set off for Santiago!!!
The last 16k were for me the toughest, especially the last 4k which to be honest I might not have completed had it not been for Craig. Everything was going well, so well in fact that we even bought a few cans for the trip. It all went horribly wrong around the 8k mark where our guide stated that we would pass a playpark, go through a railway tunnel and up the last significant hill of the walk. Well we found a hill, and yes it was significant but we failed to see either a playpark or a railway tunnel so in our minds we still had that to conquer. We walked and walked searching for this railway tunnel and the fact that we knew there was a final climb after it had us both concerned and perplexed. Finally we came across a town bus stop which we thought rare if we still had over 8k still to walk but we plodded on. It now seemed that we had walked well over 10 out of 16k when suddenly we came across a building which proved we were in the outskirts of Santiago. Relief was an understatement and getting to the finishline now within sight. Craig kept us going though neither of us were feeling overly elated at being so close...even at the point where we could see the spires of the Cathedral all I wanted to do was lie down and cry! Completely exhausted we entered the 'old town' and made our final descent.
The piper played and finally we went down the last set of steps and through the archway...finally, we had arrived! What a majestic feeling it is to turn and see the front of the Cathedral and realise that we had done it after a really excruciating last leg...but we were there! We had a quick walk inside the church but, exhausted, we were not really taking an awful lot in!
We took some snaps and congratulated one another on getting to the end. Exhausted yes, elated, finally! A great moment each of us will treasure!!!
Shortly before arriving to the Cathedral we had stuck our head into a small hotel in the hope of a room for the night. Roberto greeted two weary Pilgrims into Hotel Costa Vella and despite not having a room for the night he got us sorted with a room across the street in an apartment. My boots were despatched to the bin at long last!
We returned to the apartment, got sorted and headed out for a well deserved celebratory drink and the atmosphere around the cobbled streets was electric...some time later we crashed into two well deserved comas!
We dispatched the Santiago Cake quickly savouring all the flavour of this nutty delight, not knowing for sure when we might eat again...24 kilometres to Siguiero, lets go!!
It was now that we began to recount the memories and mental images we had experienced so far, both of us knowing that despite a long long day ahead, the end of our trip was beginning to reel us both in. We shared a laugh and a giggle - Deany on the Bongo Drums on the First night - hmm, that might need to be explained!!! Our day spent with Paul now more precious and the evening past spent with Benino and Jean-Pierre one of the real highlights!
You will notice that the photography today was limited...tiredness becoming more and more evident and it was a real kick in the teeth when the fist main town we reached after three hours walking was effectively a ghost town...save the noise of every dog that barked 'Buen Camino' violently as we passed. Thankfully Craig had a stick which offered some comfort but was never actually required. Some of the dogs were the size of horses anyway so Deaney's twig really wouldn't have done much...but it made us feel better and dragged us up many hills...(many, many, many hills!!!)
We soldiered on and I carefully picked my way along the grassy verges of the pathways trying in vain to save the ensuing blister on my right foot. I was using a GPS programme on my phone called 'Endomondo' which tracked distance, speed and altitude along the way...we were banging out kilometres at just over 11mins and we walked like 'Machines' (private joke about one of Deany's mates from Uni) as we counted down the kilometres. Maybe Jean-Pierre had been right the evening before but today we felt great, especially as the road stretched straight out in front of us...in hindsight we probably should have gone a bit easier with a full Marathon to walk today, up and down hills and with 8-9 kilos on board!!! But you couldn't talk to us and soon, supported by the Greatest Hits of 'The Pogues' blaring from me, Craig and supported by my Samsung Galaxy, we strode our way into Siguiero...and fell over at Cafe Mesa for around two o'clock...a bit behind Beninos target but we did leave late and got a bit lost once or twice.
Lunch again went down a treat with change from 20 Euros for the two of us and at 3.45pm we set off for Santiago!!!
The last 16k were for me the toughest, especially the last 4k which to be honest I might not have completed had it not been for Craig. Everything was going well, so well in fact that we even bought a few cans for the trip. It all went horribly wrong around the 8k mark where our guide stated that we would pass a playpark, go through a railway tunnel and up the last significant hill of the walk. Well we found a hill, and yes it was significant but we failed to see either a playpark or a railway tunnel so in our minds we still had that to conquer. We walked and walked searching for this railway tunnel and the fact that we knew there was a final climb after it had us both concerned and perplexed. Finally we came across a town bus stop which we thought rare if we still had over 8k still to walk but we plodded on. It now seemed that we had walked well over 10 out of 16k when suddenly we came across a building which proved we were in the outskirts of Santiago. Relief was an understatement and getting to the finishline now within sight. Craig kept us going though neither of us were feeling overly elated at being so close...even at the point where we could see the spires of the Cathedral all I wanted to do was lie down and cry! Completely exhausted we entered the 'old town' and made our final descent.
The piper played and finally we went down the last set of steps and through the archway...finally, we had arrived! What a majestic feeling it is to turn and see the front of the Cathedral and realise that we had done it after a really excruciating last leg...but we were there! We had a quick walk inside the church but, exhausted, we were not really taking an awful lot in!
We took some snaps and congratulated one another on getting to the end. Exhausted yes, elated, finally! A great moment each of us will treasure!!!
Shortly before arriving to the Cathedral we had stuck our head into a small hotel in the hope of a room for the night. Roberto greeted two weary Pilgrims into Hotel Costa Vella and despite not having a room for the night he got us sorted with a room across the street in an apartment. My boots were despatched to the bin at long last!
We returned to the apartment, got sorted and headed out for a well deserved celebratory drink and the atmosphere around the cobbled streets was electric...some time later we crashed into two well deserved comas!
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