Category: Spain Roadtrip

We took in the views of the cathedral one last time while we were waiting for our cab. I’m not sure if I will ever be back again so I wanted to take it all in while I was there.

Timing was perfect and I was able to see Victoria walk in. It was really nice to see her again and say goodbye!
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With that, it is now time to close the Camino de Santiago chapter and open the “2023 Gill Family Spanish Road-trip” chapter! Below is a highlights of what we are thinking but we haven’t booked any reservations yet and are just going to wing it!

We took a taxi to the airport to pick up our rental car. Lucky for us we got a brand new car!! It only had 4 miles on it! We received great service from Enterprise and feel like we dodged a bullet because several other car hire companies required International Drivers Licenses which we didn’t have.

Typical for Galicia weather, it started pouring rain the second we got on the freeway. It didn’t last very long though and we were on our way!

Cat and I were more focused on our road-trip selfie than H was. Luckily he was focused on the road and keeping us safe!

We drove across a really cool bridge.

We stopped for the obligatory road-trip snacks.

…and made our way into Portugal.

After being sent way off track by Google Maps for lunch to a restaurant that wasn’t even open, we stopped at this roadside restaurant that was actually pretty good! Cat won for the best meal! (Chicken kabob)

Cat thought that navigating was easy and laughed at my misdirections from Google. I had her sit in front and help H navigate and she soon learned how hard it was (while I napped in the back!)

We got passed by a hearse. I wonder what the hurry was….

…and we finally made it to Badajoz after 6.5 hours of driving. It was a cute little town that had tons of character and the nightlife was happening!

We got up early to catch a tour to Finesterra (End of the Earth) and Muxia. While waiting for the bus, we ran into Savina and Carolina who were both on their way to the bus station to leave Santiago.

Below is miscellaneous pictures from the day. I did have a laugh when we got to Finesterra because it was pouring rain and the fog was so bad at times that you couldn’t see very far. The statue of the boot represents the very end of the Camino although the official end is at the Cathedral. Some people walk there. I personally have done enough walking and thought the bus was sufficient.

We got back to Santiago and walked to the park. Last time we lived here, there was a similar Ferris wheel but the stabilizers didn’t look this orderly or safe!

We ended the night at one of our favorite restaurants, (A Gamela), churros, cocktails and a search for the “Pilgrim Shadow”.

We had originally planned to do a week at the beach and a week in Morocco but neither of us ended up booking anything and it was hard to coordinate on such different schedules while I was walking. After trying to make it work for a couple of hours today, we actually decided to rent a car and road-trip thru Spain. We were really frustrated to find that most trains were sold out and airplanes were really expensive and it just made sense to be able to go where we wanted when we wanted to. We have 2 days in Santiago/Finesterra and then will start our Gill Family 2023 Spanish Road-trip! (Itinerary unknown!)

Morning views of the Cathedral.

We did the rooftop tour of the cathedral. The views were beautiful. The attention to detail was impressive and the history was very informative. We laughed that there was no way that we would be allowed to do a tour like this in America.

Cat and I toured the inside of the church and the tomb of St James. Lots has changed in the cathedral since we lived here. They did a major renovation that finished in 2021 and decided to close a lot off from the public at that time. There used to be a statue of Saint James that could be hugged, there was a handprint that millions of Pulgrims had placed their hand in that was worn into a pillar that was only allowed to be viewed (not touched) if you purchased a ticket for the tour and the front doors were closed and you had to enter thru the front door.

We went out for dinner and Cat ordered octopus. One of the tentacles suctioned onto her tongue!!

Every night a Galician band played in front of the cathedral. They played upbeat traditional music and the locals all sang along and danced. We went every night! It was always a fun way to end the evening!