We huddled in our nice little hostel in the tiny rainy town, thankful for a dry place to sleep. As the morning approached the rain still beat down on the windows and roof. In the early predawn we prepared for another all day rain. I wore sandals and shorts so as not to wet another pair of socks or long pants and then cover up with a raincoat, poncho and waterproof pack cover. We emerged from the hostel, apparently the first people up. But it was not raining! The clouds had opened up somewhat giving us one hour of rain free hiking. And since we were on small back roads that were paved, we headed off to try to make some miles.
After an hour or so, we were feeling hungry, but nothing looked good for stopping for a break. Everything was wet or prickly. But up ahead, at the top of the hill I saw a man carrying a bag of trash down from what looked like a closed camping center. I spoke to him and he was Peruvian. Come on up and have some coffee he suggested! We could not have known from the appearance that it was open. Sure enough, after going around to the back stairway and climbing a flight there was a little bar open for coffee and croissant. As we sat and enjoyed our well earned breakfast, the rain began to pour again, so we prepped again for a day of walking in the rain.
We continued on our way, reassured by the frequent yellow markers for the Camino, which did not correspond to our book. We also started to run into a number of other pilgrims. I walked for a while with a couple of Estonian women, one of which spoke good English. I had no Russian to offer. She had walked the Camino Primitivo three years ago and liked it a lot. She was surprised with the amount of paved roads and resort areas we had to go through. We came to a split off point at Galizano where the Estonians continued onto a long convoluted route along the coast and we took the quick direct route towards the ferry to Santander.
Second breakfast at Galizano in a motorcycle and bike themed bar.
After stopping for second breakfast, we were re-energized and ready to put in 6 quick km on straight flat walking path to Somo.
We walked quickly to the ferry town of Somo, which cuts 20 km off of ugly industrial approach path to Santander. There we took the few minutes and had oranges and chatted with two American ladies on the Camino from California. As the ferry pulled up, we donned our masks, paid our 3 Euro for ticked and got on the boat. 20 minutes later we arrived in the big northern city of Santander and walked the 1.6 km to our hostel. On the way we ran into a very friendly Belgian man who chatted us up about the Camino; he had walked all the way from Belgium to Santiago 20 years ago.
We got to our hostal and were greeted by a very friendly host who showed us our beautiful and inexpensive room. Then we were off to catch a nice late lunch before everything shuts down until 8 pm. We are done with missing meals! We ate at El Castellano and had the Fixed price meal for 18 Euros each , including a bottle of wine, two courses, and dessert. Our stomachs full, we headed back to rest and clean up.
What a gift each day to receive such a wonderful account of your Camino experience, both in the written portion and especially in the beautiful photographs. Your account actually transcends many other accounts that we have read and it certainly is up to date! Nothing better. It is truly a gift. Thank you.
Thanks for your lovely comments and glad to have you joining us in spirit!