Santiago de Compostela – Porto

On my last day in Santiago I still took an organised tour of the city, from 10 am to noon, in which the guide told us lots of stories about the city. Then I went for lunch: caldo galego, pulpo à galega and an ice cream tart at the café bar Paris.

The guide had told us a story about a passport of 50 bars that started at the café Paris and ended at the café Dakar, in homage to the rally. On this route the “pilgrims” had to drink a glass of wine in each bar until completing the passport, and whoever completed it won a prize. But this new pilgrimage was banned by the authorities straight away because of the pile-up of “fake pilgrims” stretched out on the ground, not from the tiredness of the walk, but from over-hydration with wine.

Next I went to the Alameda Park and rode the Ferris wheel to see the Cathedral from above, and it turned out to be a laugh because Natalie, who had had the idea of going up, apparently was a bit afraid of heights.

Before going to fetch my suitcase at the hostel and heading for the train station, I followed the guide's tip and right after lunch I still went inside the Cathedral to visit the tomb of Santiago.

At 4:30 pm, just before catching the train to Vigo, a big storm broke, fortunately just as I was on my way back, when I was at the station waiting for the train.

Santiago couldn't hold back the tears on the day of my departure. During the trip I only had 2 very brief spells of rain.

On the way home, in Vigo I changed to a bus that dropped us in Valença to catch the train to Porto – Campanhã.

During the trip we met Francisco and the 4 of us, with Natalie and João, played Go Fish.

On the Portuguese train, we met Júlia, another one we had crossed paths with on the last day of walking to Santiago, whom we chatted with during the trip and who was still going on to Ovar.

We got to Porto past 10 pm and my dad was already waiting for us at the station to take me, João and Natalie home, where we all spent the night.