23. Day 19 - and so to Santiago

We woke up to the sound of rain lashing down so groaned and dragged ourselves out of bed. Fortunately by the time we had had breakfast, the rain had cleared - well sort of. So off we went with only 20k to ride, mostly downhill we thought, and expected to get to Santiago in 3 hours max. But of course we had not reckoned with the vagaries of The Camino. Our first 4k was spent crawling uphill and then the rain set in as the hills continued to roll out in front of us. We had a couple of coffee stops and chatted with many walkers who were wearing maximum rain gear. After our second coffee stop the rain got worse and when we thought we were only about 5k from Santiago we got off the bikes and joined the walkers because we had said that we would walk the last 5k on The Camino. After about 1k pushing the bike in the rain I checked the map and found we still had 9k to go! So we quickly hopped back on the bikes. When we actually were 5k out we took a loo break in a nice warm pub. Then the heavens really let loose and we didn't need much convincing to decide this was the place for lunch. The rain lifted slightly but we had no alternative than to get back on the bikes. And we rode with the walkers although they were few and far between, (probably all sensibly sheltering in the nearest Alberge), then started walking the final 2k which wound through the city centre toward the Cathedral. As we got closer we entered the old part of the city which gave us a sense of the history of this famous destination. The rain started to lift, the sun made an effort to peek through, and then we rounded the final corner into the massive square in front of St. James' Cathedral. There weren't as many folk around as we expected but those who were there and still arriving just stood looking at each other, hugging, crying and laughing. And we were no exception - it had been a five hour battle to cover 20k's in some of the worst conditions we had encountered. And we had conqured The Camino. Needless to say weren't feeling any pain or rain.
So that's it. Well not quite - we had a huge night out and an exciting day today so here's Rhon to finish what will be our last report.
As Barry has already said, we had not quite anticipated how difficult our last day would be and I had a completely different vision in my head of our final entrance into Santiago. However it did not take away from the emotional impact of our momentous achievement. Tears of joy mixed with sheer relief flowed freely.  I still can't quite take in that we have actually ridden 800 kms across Spain and arrived safely. We have heard some terrible stories of injuries along the way of people that did not make it, including one guy that fell off his bike and broke his hip. Last night we went to a very special Tapas bar that we had pre-booked as it only seats 12 people and the most magnificent meal which was predominantly local seafood dishes. We finished the meal sampling 4 different liqueurs and walked home happy little pilgrims. Today we went to collect our Compostelas and complete our passports - the photo shows the front and back of one passport.
Then we joined the throng at a special service for the pilgrims in the Cathedral and spent the afternoon wandering around bumping into lots of people that we had previously met on the Camino. Sadly we did not meet up with the Barrowman again. - I somehow suspect that he got here before us! We will miss him.         Buen Camino......xx

"The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the will to try and the belief that it is actually possible" - Joel Brown

22. Day 18 - Sambreixo to O Pedrouzo

And now we are only 20k from Santiago. We have just been down for a quick pre-dinner drink and the town is alive and buzzing. Everyone is so close to the end of a momentous journey and the emotion is palpable.
The day didn't start too well with Rhon's chain again causing problems. But she coaxed the bike 10k to where we had it 'fixed' the day before and we insisted that the chain be replaced. After that we had no problems and the ride was pretty easy covering 41k in 3 hours on the bike and 5 including the stop for the bike fix.We were able to ride the walkers trail for a while and had a nice lunch stop at a pilgrim's cafe along the way. The amazing stories continue to be told. There is a couple and their 6 year old daughter on the Camino who we have passed several times and finished up staying in the next hotel to ours so we had a chance to talk to them. The daughter pedals on the back seat of a tandem with her father. We met an older Irish couple who had flown over to join their son who started from the beginning a month ago. The mum was so pleased to be with her son again and had herself walked 19k that day.
Now just returned from dinner downtown and again the seense of achievement and expectation is everywhere. Everybody knows they are not yet there, but everybody knows that they will be.
We have ridden close to 800k in the past 18 days and are all starting to realise what we are about to achieve.

21. Day 17 - Portomarin to Sambreixo

Well, the bike saga continued for most of the morning. The bike hire company organised a taxi to take Barry and I and our bikes to be repaired yet again, in Malide. The taxi driver had obviously done the trip several times because he drove through narrow roads at a steady 80k/hr without any fear that another vehicle could be coming in the opposite direction. And he apparently had only one hand. Well we could only see one on the steering wheel.
Anyway perhaps the most interesting part of the taxi ride was that we became aware of just how much the volume of pilgrims had increased since Sarria, which you will remember is the starting point for those who walk and want to get the Compostela. Barry counted over 500 people walking as we went 20k. Astonishing.
While we were waiting for the bikes to be repaired we  went for a coffee and snack at a typical Spanish bar where the speciality of the region is whole, boiled octopus. If that didn't temp you, you could have a plate of pigs ears - yum! A beautiful young man from Pennsylvania joined us and and we started chatting as you do on the Camino. He told us that he had originally planned the trip with his girlfriend Heather who was killed last year. So now he is doing it for both of them. He said he was really enjoying it but finding it both emotionally and physically challenging. Yesterday we met a young woman from Mexico who was travelling in a van. Her husband and his friends were doing it on horseback. Moments later they came riding around the corner and made quite a sight riding down the main street on these magnificent animals. The bikes fixed, we decided the ride was not worth doing as it was through a large industrial area, so we gave ourselves permission to have the whole day off and caught another taxi to our accommodation in Sambreixo. Alisha if you are reading this - this is where your friends stayed. Our accommodation is in a magnificent rural setting, on a river about 6 kms off the Camino.  Our room is in a Palloza, a traditional Galician stone house, round in shape with curving thatched roof.  After a long, hot bath and a G & T, we are about to set off on a 6 km hike to explore a castle up on the hill before dinner.