The Penultimate Day - O Pedrouzo

October 27, 2017
The Penultimate Day - O Pedrouzo
Well here it is:  the last day before the last day. And I admit it:  I am tired and I am ready to come home.  I want a long soak in the tub.  I want fresh veggies and the only time I want to see iceberg lettuce again is in a Taco. I want to pet my kitties and scruff my Bear,  not necessarily in that order.

I have at least one pair of socks that I can burn (or safely deposit in a trash bin) at Finnestera.  The wine has been good and so has the Spanish beer but I want a rum. 

Also, this particular town has the last hill before Santiago and by tradition the first one of your group to reach the bottom is called "king".  There is no prize, just bragging rights.

This is one of the places that I will be passing through tomorrow : Lavacolla - the origin of the name is one of the most widely debated on the Camino. The possible origins range from "The field at the bottom of the hill"  to the more prosaic "scrub your scrotum" in difference to the practice of pilgrims bathing in the river before entering the Cathedral.

Then into the city and I am booked into an albergue called The Last Stamp.

At the beginning I truly did not know I would make the entire journey when full understanding of enormity of this undretaking really began to really sink in.  Now, at the end I wonder just how the heck I managed to do it.
Photos:
Sept. 15 - Were off the train now what do I do? - This is where the first doubts hit home, the enorminity of the task ahad, and the setting of the resolve; "I'm going to do this, damn it!"
Sept. 16 - Directions - Here is the first choice - It's up hill either way; Route #1 is a 1,400 meter climb up and route #2 is only 1,000 meters around, both take me over the Pyranese Mountains. Just how much of a masochist am I? hummmmmmmmmmmmmmm .........
Sept. 24 - Wine Fountain at Irache - Well, I can say that this oaisis makes rigors of the trip so far worthwhile. "Drink the wine of the country" they say, so I drank!
Sept. 25 - The path alongside the highway - Oh, such a long way left to go, but this is more like it ..... NO BLODY HILLS!!!!
Day 41 O Pedrouzo - Another Rough day for our intrepid traveler, but that is becoming 'Old Hat' to this rugged adventurer. But it feels sssssooooooo gooooooood when it is time to stop and taste the wine and have a shower - not necessarily in that order!