** Melide **

Left Ligonde quietly in the near dark...alone again.  It felt better than the previous days, and suddenly it began to really hit me..I was days from Santiago.  My epic was nearly over.  Or so I thought at the time.  Journeys like this...they stay with you, in you forever.  Rather like having a child, you are never ever quite the same. 

I was still meeting new and wonderful people.  Some of them long timers..some really new to the road.  It took an effort to remain open to new encounters, but it was worth the effort.  There were the girls from Sweden, Johann from Germany and many others, esp. the cyclist, who really just fly thru our lives.

Making it into Melide I was dragging a little, but feeling fairly contented with my journey.  Just needed to find the Alburgue. No sooner was the thought clear in my head when another pilgrim, neatly scrubbed and ready to see the town, grabs me and points me in the direction, telling me to hurry, but there are still beds!  Well thank you!  I found it, although with a little more direction.  New, large, possibly a little sterile and with a bathroom shower area..designed by a man!  No curtains, no doors..rather like being in gym class all over again.  Although at this stage, I quite frankly didn't give a damn!  The only concession was that the bathrooms were not co-ed!

There was internet in the area..but not in our Alburgue, rather at the little hostel next door.  It took a bit of waiting and standing around to get my hands on one but I was glad I did.  Not only did I get to blog, as you can see by the entry sans pics!  I juiced up my iPod nano!  I had completely resisted the urge to listen to music the entire time.  I felt, for me, that I'd rather be completly aware of everything around me when I was walking.  People are less likely to talk to you if they see earbuds and wires dangling down the sides of your face.  So for the last five plus weeks I had completely given myself to being present to what ever was.  The last few kilometers loomed, I thought a little help might be in order.

Melide was also the site of my Alburgue break IN.  While happily blogging, a fellow pilgrim and I suddenly realized....it's past 10pm.  Like 5 minutes past.  So we scrambled, grabbing our electronic gear and other stuff and bolted out the door like a pair of kids who are about to get grounded by their parents.  We get to the front door. It's locked.  We ring the bell.  No answer. We ring again.  No answer.  So at this point he goes around the corner...and after one more ring I follow.  We find a window to the dining area.  There are several people, including a "slightly" inebriated Frenchman who is sitting right at the window.  He tells us the doors are locked.  Very perceptive!  It takes us about 10 minutes to convince him to close the window, one of those with variable openings...it was open at the top only...and swing the damn thing open so we could climb in.  After we finally achieving this and get ourselves in (I needed a leg up cause of laughing way to much!) what does he do...he jumps out the window himself..to check his laundry.  Not quite sure how he clambered in as I was still laughing too hard and simply headed up to bed.

More and more, people were leaving notes along the side of the road.  Some were fresh..others left you wondering, rather sadly, had they been able to get together again...would they?

And then the reminders  that time is precious and sweet for each of us.

A small dose of humor never hurts!  Noticed a lot of these had funny faces on them.

A Camino version of "no pain, no gain!"

Okay, my mojo is back...flowers everywhere and I am seeing them all and loving them!

Church in Melide...where we never did find out what the correct time for Mass was!

We'd come into this rather swanky restaurant...hoping to eat before the Mass (which we never found!) and had planned on being frugal..till the waitress delivered this to the table next to us.  MEAT...real meat that you need a knife for...with lovely peppercorn sauce..ahhhh!!!

Another of countless roadside shrines.

Dinner...4 k back up and I do mean UP the road.  It turned out to be one of the best dinners.  The soup  and salad were great, the entree...wonderful.  Three kinds of fish, potatoes with olive oil and bread.  For Postre...fruit macerated in orange juice.  The grilled calamari were the best!  These are the two ladies from Sweden who made my last days such a pleasure.

Mangolia!!  Mojo back!!!

Hydrangea....I can hear one friend telling me "this is not a botany lesson!" :-)

A fixer upper....loads of charm though!  Just needs the right person to tame those grapes!