Day 30 - O Coto to Burres, near A Calzada

The night in the hotel was fine but it felt strange sleeping between sheets after so many nights in a sleeping bag. We were up at the usual time, had our café con leche and tostadas at the restaurant across the street and were on the road at about 7:15. Breakfast in the hotel did not start until 8:00 which was too late for us.
The morning was overcast but not cold enough for gloves and we made good time along a very pretty path through woods, across streams ( that our book called rivers) and up and down several hills. We passed through Melide where a lot of people joined the path since there are a lot of Albergue beds there and also the "bus pilgrims".
Here are some of the medieval bridges, still used today, some even by cars.

The view from the bridge

It was a pretty and relaxing walk. We stopped in Arzúa for a snack and a beer. It was about noon and we had been walking for almost 5 hours except for a brief coffee stop. Here is a church we passed in the town and one in the countryside.

We had decided to stop at an Albergue which was about 600 meters off the Camino but the only albergue within the distance we had decided on that would give Werner's leg a chance to rest and still allow us to get close to Santiago tomorrow. The weather became beautiful as we walked and I am sure you will be pleased to hear that the cuckoo was singing for us.
When we arrived we took our showers and sat outside in the sun (with my hat and sunscreen) and enjoyed a beer. I hung my sleeping bag out in the sun to air. It has been quite a while since I have been able to do that and I am sure it will feel fresh tonight. No washing needed as we got it all done yesterday so a lazy afternoon with no chores today.

It is a nice modern albergue with only 10 beds (5 double bunks) and we were the first to check in so each got a lower bunk which is much more convenient, especially if we have to get up in the night. It looks as if there will be 3 other people in here with us. We are the only walkers here tonight. Everyone else are cyclists.
No peregrino menu so we had pizza which was quite good and red wine to go with it.
Today we walked 26 km, 16 miles. Only 32km, 20 miles left to Santiago. We have covered 768 km, 480 miles, all on foot.
It is difficult to believe that tomorrow will be our last normal "Camino" day. It has been our routine and our lives for exactly a month. We left St Jean Pied de Port on April 24 and today is May 23. Tomorrow we plan to go about 22 km and find somewhere to stay near the Santiago airport. There are no albergues there but we are sure there will be plenty of other options. We could go another 8km and be at the city limits of Santiago but the albergue there has 400 beds and we don't fancy being with a crowd like that and we don't need to be in Santiago before about 10:00 am to collect our Compostella (certificate of completion) and be at the cathedral at 11:00 to meet Christa and go in for the noon pilgrims mass. I think it will be very emotional for me. But it is not until Saturday and we hope that tomorrow we will have a nice walk through the countryside as we approach the tomb of St James

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