Santiago, otra vez 9 October

It was a very nice walk into Santiago for the first 11 of the 16 km.It was hard to believe that it was mostly a dirt path through the pine and eucalyptus forests with not another person around; a nice end to my last day of walking as a peregrino.

The final 5 km was through the industrial area, then the outer residential area north of Santiago, not all of it very well waymarked. I did find my way partly by watching the sun to make sure I was headed in a southerly direction, since one does not get a long distance view of the cathedral spires on this route. I easily found my destination of the Hospedaje San Roque, where I will stay tonight. Afterwards I went to the pilgrim's office to get my second compostela of this trip, since I qualified by walking the 120 km from Ferrol.

I have a few days left in Spain. I could do more walking, perhaps to Finisterra, but I have done that twice before. Since I have already seen most of the destinations around both Santiago and Madrid, I decided last night to visit Cordoba. Along with Sevilla and Grenada, it was one of the big three cities with strong Moorish influence in Spain. I have always wanted to visit it, so here is my chance. I have a train ticket for Cordoba and will travel there tomorrow.

Less than five miles from the cathedral and still out on the forest path.