Day 33 Gonzar - San Xulian (April 20)

We had a good sleep and coffee and toast before starting out for the day.  Once again we have good weather.  We are loving the last few days of walking.  A little up and down and paths wide enough to walk side by side. Again the hedges line both sides of the path, at least part of the way.  Tiny yellow, purple, pink and white wildflowers all along the way.  We stopped at Palais del Ray for lunch.  It was delicious mixed salad, fried padron peppers, grilled squid, and really good bread.  Cullen had some Albarino wine while I stuck to water.  Today the mountains are far from view.  It is with mixed feelings when I realize we only have 3 more days of walking the Camino.  Physically I am ready to stop since my right pinkie toe has been hurting for a couple of days.  But there is something so special about meeting people of all ages from all over the world experiencing the same thing you are.  And seeing those same people on and off over a 5 week period has been a big part of my Camino.  We walked the extra 3 km to San Xulian as we had planned in order to avoid the crowds in Palais del Ray.  We have to thank Falcon for this tip.  The albergue here is quite cozy and one of the best we have stayed at.  We're supposed to meet Rudy, Connie, and their Spanish friends.  The proprietor, Miguel, is a wonderful fellow.  He took a crumbled down building like so many we have seen in the small villages and turned it into this very welcoming spot for pilgrims.  The cost is 10 euros and he offers dinner for another 10.  Plus there is a bar so we'll be able to have coffee before staring out tomorrow. Miguel is married to a lady from Cuba so the food here is a blend of Galiego and Cuban.  Their daughter is a musician who plays classical guitar and sings opera so we had a bit in common to talk about our daughters!  At 5 pm there were still a lot of pilgrims passing through.  An older German woman arrived at amour 5:30.  She spoke no Spanish or English.  Luckily one of the Portugese women speaks German.  It seems she lost her wallet of cash.  Someone volunteered to cover the cost of her meal and bed for the night but she left her backpack and is going to backtrack and look for her wallet since she thinks she knows where she dropped it.  She was gone nearly an hour but amazingly enough she found it!  Even more amazing to me is that she decided to continue walking even though it was nearly 7 pm by then.  We had a nice meal; caldo, pork fillets, salad, vino and bread.  For dessert we had a delicious cheese with quince.  After dinner we stayed in the dining room and watched the Barcelona / Milan soccer game.  The Portuguese ladies were the only ones routing for Milan -the coach is from Portugal and Milan won.  We met a young couple from Mexico tonight along with another Mexican man who was planning to walk the Camino with his wife but she passed away.  So he is carrying a credential for himself and for her and hoping to get compostelas for the both of them when he arrives in Santiago.  The young couple have been married for 15 years and have no children so they are walking to Santiago to ask St James for his help.