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<\/a><\/p>\nWe stayed two days in Santiago which allowed us to recover from the 116km walk from Ourense.\u00a0 Neither of us were ready to leave Santiago after the first full day of rest and our host graciously said we could stay one more day and we did.\u00a0 It worked because the second evening we both agreed we were ready to be on our way.<\/p>\n
We had been to the mercado, found a tapas restaurant we liked (actually several) washed our clothes, obtained some gifts, visited the Cathedral several times to give thanks, seen the Botafumeiro<\/em><\/span> swing,\u00a0 and explored the old parts of Santiago.<\/p>\n What we gained from our rest, however, we lost due to the weather.\u00a0 In the early morning (maybe 4 AM)\u00a0the weather in Santiago turned into a tropical thunderstorm with thunder, lightning, a drenching downpour and wind.\u00a0\u00a0 At one point I’m sure lightning hit one of the Cathedral spires.\u00a0 Our flat was, oh, maybe 200 meters away.\u00a0 The crack of the thunder was not a rumble but an explosion.<\/p>\n Worse was the pounding of the rain on the large skylights of the flat we rented. The flat is on the top of the building and certainly was an attic at one time. It is nicely furnished with plenty of room and complete with newish fixtures. a full modern kitchen, washing machine and comfortable furniture.\u00a0 But the only windows are skylights.\u00a0 The skylights flood the flat with light during the day.\u00a0 There are no other windows that look out at buildings or down to the street.\u00a0 So when it rains very hard, as it did in the early morning, the flat gets noisy from the rain pounding on the skylight windows.<\/p>\n Now, about rain and walking in it. I really don’t mind a light drizzle or even an intermittent shower. But I am not a duck and have little interest in proving “I can walk through anything”.\u00a0 In fact I’d rather NOT get wet and have to\u00a0continue walking.\u00a0 I have light rain gear, but nothing that is really waterproof.\u00a0 I have looked, but the gear that really will keep the rain out doesn’t breathe (inspite of what it says). \u00a0 Worse perspiration soaks into the clothes so the clothes get wet with sweat and then start to smell anyway.<\/p>\n Suffering from some deprivation, or\/and exhaustion, and being uncomfortable is one of the experiences of doing a Camino!\u00a0\u00a0 Walking the Camino de Santiago means walking for many miles a day in unfamiliar terrain,\u00a0 trying to get along in a country with a different culture and where most of the people do not speak very much if any English (and I speak very little Spanish).\u00a0 Communication obstacles and failures are part of a Camino for me.\u00a0 But that’s part of doing this sort of thing. The Spanish people really do go out of their way to be hospitable and accommodating which more than makes up for any communication issues.\u00a0 Weather issues such as heat, sun, wind, and rain are mostly unavoidable.<\/p>\n Back to the rain.\u00a0 After walking through downpours in the past, my preferences have changed, and now I either wait out a storm or just forget about that section.\u00a0 And that is what we did today.\u00a0 Theoretically we should have left Santiago for Negreira\u00a0 but we did not do that. \u00a0 Instead we hopped on the bus to Muxia and got off at Ba\u00ed\u00f1as thereby passed up the 21 km section to Negreira and the additional section from Negreira through Maronas and on to Olveiroa which is about 30 km.\u00a0 It was pouring heavily as we left Santiago.\u00a0 As the bus headed West the rain lessened so that by the time we arrived in Ba\u00ed\u00f1as it was only lightly raining.<\/p>\n So we grabbed a coffee and a bocadillo and headed for Olveiroa.<\/p>\n People have asked me what a typical Spanish country bar is like, where they serve coffee, sandwiches (bocadillos), tapas, beer and so on.\u00a0 Here is the bar in the small village of Ba\u00ed\u00f1as.\u00a0 It is really Just the community refreshment and meeting center! \u00a0The food in the local bars is always good and the people there are very welcoming and this one was no different..<\/p>\n Bar in Bainos<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a>