| Date: | Tuesday, July 16, 2019 |
| Start: | Albergue Ultreia, Arzua |
| Stop: | Hotel San Bieito/Hotel Praza Quintana |
| Distance (Day**Total): | 42 ** 1414 km |
| Elev Gain/Loss (Day**Total): | 532/-667 ** 41207 meters |
| Moving Time (hh:mm): | 8:33 |
| Day High Temp: | 22 C |
It’s all over, except for the crying . . .
It’s going to be a long day. I get up at 5:30 am. No one is stirring. I’m moving very slowly and don’t head out the door until 6:15. Although I had expected a couple of people to be up at the same time, I’m not really surprised. I think most people Arzua to Santiago in two days, stopping in Pedrouzo. However, I am surprised at how few people I see along the way. It is practically deserted until Pedrouzo. It picks up a little after Pedrouzo but still very quiet. Probably not so surprising for any other camino but shocking for the Frances. Every year the Frances gets more and more crowded and the last 100 km is even more packed. To such an extent that there is talk that the crowds on Frances have overwhelmed its available resources and taken the joy out of the walk. I can imagine what 2021 is going to be like. That’s a Holy Year and there is a 50-100% increase in walking pilgrims and there are a lot of non-walking pilgrims, also. I may check out this hubbub, personally. But as for now, this lack of pilgrims is very strange. Could be day of the week.
These granite or concrete way posts or mojones are common in Galicia. The number in the middle indicates how much further to Santiago. I’ve got 20 more kms. They’re always to the 3rd decimal place. I never understood the need for that level of accuracy. Several years ago, a guy from California walked the Frances. He took the measurements of one of these way posts and had an identical one made once he got home. It looks exactly the same. He put it in his back yard with the arrow pointing towards Santiago. Even had the correct distance.
Unfortunately, wherever you have crowds, you seem to have graffiti. Compared to the other caminos, there’s a lot of graffiti on the Frances but after Sarria (about 100 km from Santiago), it’s way over the top. The scallop shell in blue and yellow used to be tiles but people were prying them off. So, they switched to painting them on. Sad!
I get to Santiago at 3 pm and head straight to the Pilgrim’s Office for my compostela. I have made reservations at a hotel, so, lodging is not a concern. It’s a very short line, especially for the end of the day. No more than a couple of dozen people. I’m at the counter in no time. I check into my hotel. Very nice.
The cathedral has been undergoing restoration for the last 10 years. They started with the outside and they’ve had scaffolding up for the last 5 years that I have visited. Most of the scaffolding was down this year and they were working on the interior. So, although no services, it is open. There is a long line of people waiting to go in. They’re only allowing a certain number of people in at at a time. However, it moves pretty fast. The place is packed. Services are supposed to resume in November but I understand that this has been delayed several times. The cathedral is expected to be fully restored for the 2021 Holy Year.
Later I have a beer and talk to several pilgrims. One is a father and son team from England. They walked the Camino Ingles. There seemed to be a lot of parent and child pilgrims, this year. I ended up having dinner at the same place. A pigeon came to visit and congratulate me on the completion of my walk. I appreciated the gesture but not enough to share my pizza with him.
And finally, the obligatory selfie with cathedral. Damn, I look grim. Hey, I may sketch this for my art class. Buen Camino, peregrinos!
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