When we entered Santiago last Thursday the Camino took us past the monument dedicated to John Paul II. That route did not give us the view of Santiago we were hoping for, nor did we see the 2 Perigrinos statue we were expecting to see.

So today, with little on our agenda, I talked Steve into walking the Camino in reverse to find that statue. We knew it was in the same park as the JPII monument, but it was not easy to find. We were finally successful!

We walked 10 miles today and up 90 flights of stairs.

We can leave Santiago knowing we saw all we wanted to see.

On to Madrid!

Most unusual surface

The most unusual surface to walk on while on the Camino was a 1/2 km section of concrete that was 12 feet wide and 8″ thick. You could have landed a small plane on this section. This was located on the entrance into Redecille, which is the first village in the Province of Castile y Leon. A Province in Spain would likely be larger than a County but smaller than a State in the US.

i wonder if one of the politicians in this area also was a cement contractor. Cement is a hard surface to be walking in, and 12 feet wide was unnecessary! Some trees for shade, and picnic tables or benches would have been more appreciated.

Other surfaces encountered:

Least Favorite

Occasionally encountered surfaces:

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Most common surfaces::

 

We left Santiago early this morning for our flight to Madrid.

We arrived at our apartment after lunch. We are very pleased. It is a beautiful place, comfortable and within a 15 minute walk from most of the sights we want to see, and a 5 minute walk from the Metro station for convenient airport access. Our host also surprised us with several groceries to welcome us!

We spent the afternoon walking around to cover some of the city’s landmarks.

Our first stop was the Puerta del Sol. The Square was filled with people celebrating the national holiday- Columbus Day. Next we walked down Calle Arsenal to the San Gines church, and stopped at a local restaurant famous for churros and chocolate – yum!!

Next stop was the Royal Palace and botanical gardens. For EU residents it was free admission into the palace after 4:00. The line was very, very long!

We walked through the San Miguel market- a very busy favorite stop for gourmet tapas. Since it was Columbus Day it was unusually busy!

Tomorrow we are going to do as much outdoor sightseeing as we can, since Wednesday it is supposed to rain all day. It is extremely dry here, and they need rain- just wish it could wait 1 day.