Anticipation was building. We were just two days now from Santiago and the number of pilgrims with us was increasing. The merge of the coastal and central routes in Redondela doubled our numbers, and the many people walking only the final 100 km of the Camino made it so you could always see pilgrims in front of and behind you.
Patrick and Karen
Patrick and Karen were from Virginia, USA. They both worked for the US Federal Government. She worked in the State Department teaching and coaching diplomats as they travelled around the world. This was their first Camino.
We reached Padron early in the afternoon and found an albergue that had a room for the four of us. The ladies bunk had a wide yellow stripe painted on the floor around it. I think it was marking a tripping hazard but it instantly reminded me of the 1980’s TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinatti. Les Nessman, a quirky character in the show, wanted his own office. He put yellow tape around his desk to outline his imaginary office. Nearess instantly became “Les Nearess Nessman”, or “Les” for short.
Carolen also received a name. She usually ended each day with some yoga exercises, but didn’t always have a place to practice other than her bunk. She insisted the bunk was working out well so we named her “Bunk Yogi”.
Rebeca
Rebeca was the hostess at Albergue a Barca de Pedra, a cozy little hotel in the old streets of Padron. She was very informative about the town and the Little Easter festival we had stumbled upon.
In Padron, carnival rides and games lined the riverside. Four giant white tents offered octopus and seafood meals to eager locals. Octopus, a delicacy in the area, was boiled in big copper cauldrons, then cut into bite-size pieces using scissors. Generous servings were placed on wooden platters and served with a crusty local bread. Red wine was drank from white bowls.
The big attraction was music. Two local marching bands played, marched, and played again in several locations around town. The locals followed them from place to place. A main stage filled the south end of town with popular music until 3 am, and a smaller stage a block from our albergue had a cover band playing until 2am. Different bands would play each night for a week.
We walked 31.9 km on this our second last day.