To finish off in Santiago

Now that we’ve finished our Camino, I don’t intend to bore you with too many posts, but I’ve decided to continue my blog as a record of our trip. To this end there are a few things that have come full circle which deserve comment.

I never mentioned the Brazilian woman and her ten year old son who were walking from Porto. How impressive is that?  He was cheerfully checking for fish in the stream when we passed them. Well, they walked into Santiago as we were people watching from a park bench. I couldn’t resist running up to congratulate them with a hug and take a photo for them.

When we were in Santiago last year I mentioned an experience I had with a beggar. I bought him a boccadillo. This year the numbers of beggars on their knees leaning towards the stream of people walking by, pleading for a coin to be placed in their cup has increased. I still balk at giving money. Instead we went to the supermarket and made up a couple food parcels which were gratefully accepted. I had one left. While sitting in the same restaurant where we were last year, I recognised the same man walking down the street approaching people with the same pleading manner. The last bag obviously had his name on it!

And way back in September (it feels like a lifetime ago) as we walked off the plane in Lisbon, we got talking to three Australians who were also about to walk from Lisbon to Santiago. We never saw them again. Until this afternoon when we passed then in the street. We caught up briefly and went our separate ways.

We’re enjoying a few days R&R (exploring the tapas bars and catching up on sleep) before our next adventure. On Monday we start our five weeks of Spanish lessons in Sevilla. I’m so enjoying being surrounded by the Spanish language and excited about improving on what I already know.