Monday, July 20: Lugo to 2 km past As Seixas.(21 mi)

CC: We had a good time n our last night in Lugo. There was a dance group in Plaza Major that was performing the Tango to several different songs.

They seemed to be inviting people from the crowd to dance with them. It was probably advertisement for their studio. I wanted to dance with this one gal that was incredible, but I knew the price would be steep with you know who watching. After the dancing we went to our rooms. I went down to the lobby to do our online check-in for the flight from Santiago to Madrid next Sunday. It was interesting, as most actions were in Spanish. And this airline tries to charge you for more than you want. To get my seats eight days ahead of time, I needed to pay an extra 10 euro per seat. But if you’re within seven days, it’s free. I waited till the next morning and signed us up.

A photo from our room before we started this morning.

We started at 6:25am on a long day – our final long day. Right off the bat we missed an arrow, probably because it was still dark out. That caused a couple block detour. Another mile and we missed another arrow. This mistake took us up a long hill before we discovered the error. We couldn’t find any arrows at the top and went all the way back down to a fork in the road that contained the marker. Both errors were caused by starting in the dark. But now we were on track and making good time. The day was perfect. Slightly cool and cloudy. We had a few hills to climb, but nothing like we were used to.

This was an interesting day from the perspective that we were inside 100 km and were only four days from achieving our objective. The day moved quickly and the miles peeled off. Here’s an interesting photo of shoes left behind at one of the markers. We saw this type of thing frequently. Either the shoes were blown out, or they were the wrong kind for this type of hiking.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about the hike, so here are a few photos on the way.

What was remarkable was the place we stopped at for the night. It was about one mile past As Seixas. Going up a hill, we came around a corner and there it was – a beautiful oasis in the midst of the rocky trail. There was no warning of a hotel coming up, and there was no sign with the hotel name on it. All we saw was a split door with the top open and a small sign that said Pilgrims and pointed to the opening. I poked my head through the door, and a man came to greet me. He was British! He welcomed us in, took our bags, and led us to our rooms. No check-in routine with passports, etc. He told us to relax, take a shower and when we’re ready, he would make us a drink and take our orders for dinner. Our rooms were 5 star quality, with beautiful stone walls and ornate furniture. After cleaning up, we went out to the garden and had some sort of cocktails. We ordered dinner off of very high quality menus and were told that it would take 90 minutes to prepare, as everything is made from fresh ingredients. At 6pm, we sat down to a fantastic meal served on the finest linen. Everything was top quality. It was a strange experience, especially compared to the previous five weeks. Here’s a photo of our hosts Kim and Sue.

Sue mentioned that they have not done a camino. They were planning on next March. She said they bought the land for the hotel about five years ago. The place was a broken down house with barn. They had builders come in and restore the place, finishing about three years ago. Then they sold their business and home in England and moved here to manage the hotel. There are only five rooms, which book up early. And they do everything. Sue is a chef extraordinaire. They love what they are doing, and so do we. Tomorrow we will have breakfast here and then go on a short 8 mile hike to Melide. The California Cousins, who are two days ahead of us, sent a warning. At Melide, the Frances and Primitivo routes join. They said to be prepared. It’s even worse than you think. The number of pilgrims coming from the Frances is huge. That means that we have enjoyed our last day of solace. But that’s ok. It was a great day.