Thursday, June 01, 2006

tme for the party to stop!

Hola from sunny and hot Madrid.

Where did I leave you last? In Finisterre I think. Well, after the last post a group of us walked to the cape and watched the sun set on the Atlantic and we drank wine and took photos to celebrate that we WALKED there to see this ;) We were back in the local restaurant that we discovered the night before and finished dinner around midnight (spanish style!). We continued on to a bar that was recommended and we were still dancing around at 5am when a few of us decided to have one last dip in the ocean!

A bus the next day to Muxia was strange. I had not moved this quickly in over 6 weeks and it f elt very strange. Muxia is a cute town that is trying desperately to jump on the camino wagon and were very accommodating to the handful of pilgrims who make the extra km´s to visit. W slept in the sports hall that night and, surprisingly, it ws the best sleep I had had in a while.

Back in Santiago, we had one more night before parting ways with our Finisterre crew and happened upon the party for thye Ascencion (40 days after easter) and the locals partied LOUDLY until 5am - bands, dancing, marching bands etc, all night. Had every intention of an early night and whil I was in bed early I didnt get any sleep.

A few weeks earlier I had an emal from Phil - ann irish guy who had emailed me some tips for my camino months ago. We agreed that we would try to meet wh ile he is in Spain. So that gave me somewhere to go, because until now, I had no post camino plans. Caught a bus to Salamanca and met up with Phil, his friend Shane and their other new friend Christi from Canada. Despite being exhausted, good manners meant that I must join them on a locals tapas crawl, taking in the best of the best. The food and company was A1 and we had a great night. Tapa followed tapa, nightclub followed bar and then bed followed dawn!!! How did THAT happen?? Slept til midday then meandered around town for the afternoon before meeting up for dinner with the crew again. This time I showed restraint and managed to get to bed by 2.30 (!!!)

Caught a train with Phil to Madrid (eventually - we managed to miss our origional train by a minute!!) and went straight out to see his best friend Paddy play at a bar. I was then introduced to Phil´s tight group of camino friends - Paddy and Esther - who have welcomed me with open arms. I have now spent some part of each day with either Phil or Esther and I have been shown the local sights and better bars/restaurants.

And, as you would imagine, with all of this frivolity, I am now well and truly sick and run down. I have spent the last few days in bed and am coughing and spluttering when I do get up. So, I will go back to bed soon to feel sorry for myself but also happy that its all been for a good cause ;)

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