The final two days!

We got up Thursday morning about 8AM and had the breakfast buffet. We would need to change hotels for the last two nights since the one we are currently in was booked. We found a small Alburgue right around the corner that had very nice rooms with a bath of our own and a balcony. Oh and by the way it had an ice-cream store and a Laundromat downstairs. It was about a 3 minute walk to the Cathedral. We had planned on going back to the Pilgrim office at 9:30 and going to another service that Katherine had invited us too. We got the town square and ran in to the couple from Dublin that had giving us the great clapping send off in Samos. Awesome! They had just gotten in and were looking for the Pilgrim office. Since we were going anyway we offered to take them there. We caught up on each others adventures and they joined us for the quick service after they got their Compostela's. After the service we had coffee with Katherine and another Sister and a few more pilgrims. We learned about each others journey's and just shared good conversation. There are so many inspiring stories here. Way too many to put here but I will share one. Katherine said that last week a young man in his early 20's had biked all the way from Germany to Santiago in honor of his Mom. She had died of a lengthy disease and had always wanted to walk the Camino herself. After she died he got her bike which was just a bike to run errands and road it all the way from her grave to Santiago and then he planned to ride it back. Anyway we heard so many stories here. To hear them was very humbling. After that we turned into tourist and just ran around town checking things out while occasionally meeting friends from the Camino. One thing about Spain is the portion sizes are large. Even a $3 sandwich should be split. So for lunch we decided to split an appetizer. We ordered clams and when it came out it was one clam in a shell. We ended going somewhere else and ordering just drinks and they gave us free chips, olives and muffins. We will figure this place out but it still surprises us at every turn. One thing that my Dad wanted was a bike Jersey to commemorate the trip. Lots of stores had t-shirts but we had not seen a jersey yet. Of course my Dad has no problem talking to people and in one store he starts asking questions about bike jerseys in full on english. After a little back and forth and more paragraphs in english the lady at he counter walked us outside and pointed down a little hill. It turns out we were literally standing on top of the bike shop the entire time. We went down and they actually had our size. Mission accomplished!  We had salads for dinner trying to make up for all of the overeating and finished it off with Santiago cake. Oh well at least tried.

On our last day we got up around 8 and were on our own for breakfast. We decided to go back to the place that gave us all the food with our drinks and see what they had to offer for breakfast. Of course by now we know to split so we split a cheese sandwich and of course it was enough for both of us. My Dad is a big coffee drinker and by big I mean he drinks about six cups of coffee every morning. In Spain the cups of coffee are small and no use of the words cafe grande makes your drink any bigger. So our routine is that I usually order  tres cafe con leche and that gets my Dad a two cup head start. This works well especially when the place is busy. This time I went up to the bar and pointed to the cheese sandwich and said uno and tres cafe con leche. He politely corrected me and said dos and I said tres. Finally after going back and forth I agreed to dos and of course 10 minutes later he was bringing Dad another cup of coffee. Ha Ha I told you. We stopped by our old hotel and sat in their courtyard to warm up a bit. Dad met a guy from Switzerland that had worked for IBM and actually did some training in Raleigh NC. They talked about growing up during the war and really had some interesting conversations. His wife wanted to walk The Way but he was content to let others walk it. He said after all I am 80. Well it turns out he was born in 1937 the same year as my Dad who is 78. When we asked him about it he clarified that he was in his 80th year as his birthday had already come and gone. If you remember my Dad was always saying he was 79 during our trip. Turns out they are both right. Today we planned to go back and tour the cathedral and Dad wanted to leave a rock for Joanne. As you know it is a tradition to leave a rock for someone or something on your mind. He had no idea where he would put it but he knew he would know when he saw it. We toured the cathedral and ended up going behind the alter. This is really cool. You are not allowed to take pictures but you are literally standing right behind the top of St James and looking out over the church.This is were you hug St. James to thank him for your safe travel. This is also where we noticed someone had left a rock. Dad's light bulb went off and he tucked it around a corner. I think that will rock will be there for hundreds of years! After we left there we decided to go back to the room and rest up a bit. We were going to finally see the Botafumeiro in action. On Friday nights at 7:30 they had a service and as part of the service they would swing the Botafumeiro. This was truly the last item to check off on our list. Ever since I had seen the movie The Way I have always wanted to see it. On our way back to the room we saw Steven. He is the guy my age who is trying to use Dad's story to get his Dad to walk part of the Camino. We had not seen him since Samos. That seems like a life time away but it is really only a week. We went back to our room and rested for a bit and headed back about 7. When we arrived it was standing room only. We got in a good position and at the end of the mass they put in the hot coals and incense and swung it over the crowd. It really did not disappoint. What a great way to end our trip. All items on our list were completed and we are both safe and sound. We went back to the room got ice-cream (We did skip dinner.) and packed for our trip home tomorrow. While this trip has meant so much to both of us it will be nice to be home with family and the things we are used to. We are both thankful for all the prayers, good vibes and support that all of you have given us on this trip. It has meant more than you know. Will we be back? I think it is tugging at my heart to walk the entire route with Lyn. So far she has said yes, so I may just see this Camino again. Buen Camino.

Dads quote of the day: "Ben is ready to turn me over to Joanne for selfkeeping." Ha ha thats a fact jack!