Ourense

I'm in the home stretch ... just over 100 km to go.

There are many more pilgrims on the trail now. It seems it all depends which day you go as to how many people you meet. In over a week, I saw only 5 other pilgrims, but two days behind were people who said they had 25-30 people in the albergue every night. I am staying an extra night in Ourense, preparing for the last stretch, and allowing the group to get ahead, hoping for a smaller group tomorrow.

The landscape is also less isolated here ... little villages every few kilometers. It still has plenty of ups and downs in terrain, though not quite as intense as the previous few days. After one of the steep stretches there was a lovely pilgrim-friendly bar, where the owner gave everyone a scallop shell on which we wrote our names and he nailed them to the wall, to the ceiling, wherever he could ... there are hundreds, but very few from Canada. There was a warm fire there, a friendly cat, good food, and wonderful camaraderie as we shared our experiences and prepared for the next stretch.

There is a festival happening here in Ourense ... the guidebooks said it was yesterday, and I was disappointed not to find it, but in reality it is happening today. A parade went by my hostal as I was waiting for the room. Lots of floats made of spring flowers, music of bagpipes, children dancing with flowers in their hair. It's great to soak in the energy of another Spanish festival ... light and airy, welcoming spring. And the 29 degree weather welcomes it too ... a pleasant surprise for Galicia.