Mat 23rd-Portomarin to San Xulian

The last few days i could feel my mindset changing, I think deep down i could feel the end of the journey approaching even though i am going to continue on to Finisterre, My mind seems to think that Santiago is the end and my body feels like it slowing down, My wife was meant to meet me tomorrow and since i have found out that she will not be able to make it the journey has had somewhat of a hollow feeling to it, We have been married 21 years and have we shared everything together, This journey will be the first that we have not shared together, I will end the journey alone

Today started off as normal with an uphill walk, Thankfully the weather was better, Dry at least but that would not last and i ended up with a rather damp day with hard rain at times, I have no problem walking in the rain, My gear is good and i end the day feeling good if just a little damp around the edges, You can tell the long distant walkers as they are now the last to leave, I started at 6.40am, Quite late for me, Once again my body was tired, The mindset thing again, I had one thing to do and that was to visit a church off of the Camino, My wife had wanted to visit it so i would do it for her and get some images, It was only 2.3km each way off the Camino, The norm of coffees and cakes along the way fueled the body and soon i was in full stride, I think that i may of been the only pilgrim to have visited there today, A very small church, 14th century with parts dating back to 10th century, The main bits of interest was the stone carvings and early wall paintings, I got my pilgrims passport stamped there as a memento,
I stopped in Palas De Rei to decide if i would walk on and also to grab some lunch, I met with 2 women that i have seen before, We decided to carry on walking as it was still fairly early, Our destination was a village called Casonova but popped into a bar/aubergue in a tiny hamlet called San Xulian, To my surprise there were lots of Camino friends that i have not seen since my leg was bad, I had a very warm welcome and i decided to stay the night here and catch up, Only 60km to Santiago, Today i walked around 33km so i could be at Santiago in 2 days

After talking to the guy at the bar it seems that these are used to dry grain and hams/meats

 The old church in Villar De Donas

 A wet and grey day

 Famous for its stone carvings

Painting on the end walls

 Painting on the walls are hundreds of years old

 Great metal work on the doors

 Happy Pilgrim sculptures in the town

The journey is coming to an end, Everybody is talking about it and the feeling is changing,It seems somehow less relaxed, I wonder how i will feel when i get to Santiago, I guess i will know in a couple of days, My plan is to stay outside Santiago and get in early morning, Get my compostella and visit the Cathedral, The day after start the 90km walk to Finisterre where my journey will come to an end which should also co-inside with my 53rd birthday on May 30th

Dave

Dave